Liam Update #2
The first races of the year were at the Utah oval this weekend. Liam Ortega continued his strong recovery from his head injury.
Here his is watching his teammates April Medley & Ashlee Barnett wizz by during a 500m
I asked him how he was doing:
I don’t have any memories from the day of the accident, but one of the trainers here at the oval told me that when I woke up, & was told I was going to the hospital. I said “What! That’s expensive!!”
Its awesome to be back here & seeing how everyone is doing on the ice.
The lasting effects from the accident are mostly testing my patience to get back to working out, & staying positive. However I did lose my senses of smell & taste.
I do have the 4 basic tastes, sweet salty, sour & bitter. But I have the memory of how things taste, more than actually tasting things, so my mind is kind of filling in the gaps. When my mom asks me if dinner is good, I can’t really tell her, since I am missing 10 or 12 flavors.
Not having a sense of smell is kind of funny, I actually have better hygiene now, because I don’t want to be the smelly kid by accident.
I’d like to compete again soon. Hopefully at nationals, but I will leave it up to the Doctors.
Interestingly enough, I saw quite a bit of traffic coming into this blog from some Dutch speedskating discussion boards. Evidently a crowded rinks/helmets discussion is going on there too.
I want to make a comment, about how when stuff happens, that is when your close family & friends really count…
This is Liam’s mom Kate, taking a video of him skating at nationals last year
She has been in Utah since his accident, helping out till he is cleared by the doctors to drive again, and here they at the oval on Saturday.
Recently I have been told, that once you have your own kids, and you hear about something happening to someone else’s kids (no matter how old the kids are) it just hits you in a different way.
As I am just a few weeks away from becoming a dad myself, I’ve watched Kate & Liam, and felt that small stirrings in my own self (Jess is being kicked by it, no stirrings at all)
Someday soon I will understand this more clearly.
Filed under: from the coffee shop
yeah, it runs along the lines of being physically ill when hearing about or witnessing something happening to other people’s kids.
A few years ago, my seven yr old wandered out onto the track from the middle of rink where he was told to wait his turn. He was mowed down by a pack of older boys doing 10 sec laps. His helmet and the athleticism of the other skaters saved his life. No blood, but his helmet had to be tossed and his clothes were thrown out. I waited until we got home to vomit. Other parents relayed to me they felt the same sick in their stomach feeling watching it happen. It’s impossible not to imagine your kid in the same situation.
It’s all part of being a parent, though, and there will be many, many more times when your child does something totally amazing, and THAT feeling warms your entire being. Get ready Andrew, you are in for the ride of your life!
Reading this I am shedding “happy tears” for Liam.
I pray he has a 100% recovery
The skate tribe wishes you the best!!
Dear Andrew,
We are nearly excited about your son soon-to-be-born baby as you are, Andrew!
May I add that the venue for next the Masters’Championships, Fosenhallen, opened for the season on Sept. 5th and will stay open till April 20th 2009. Conditions in the hall are excellent ,and the Trondheim skaters nip across the Trondheim fjord to skate there at least once a week.
http://www.fosenhallen.no/sitepageview.aspx?sitePageID=1058
[…] Andrew Love shared an update on how Liam Ortega is doing after his crash- find it here: Liam Update #2- The lasting effects from the accident are mostly testing my patience to get back to working out, […]
It’s true. When I hear about something bad happening to a kid, I HAVE TO get to Lexa and hug her as soon as possible. I ache for the injured kid’s parents, too, but the prime thing is making sure, with my own senses, that my chick is OK. She probably thinks I’m nuts, but I don’t think she minds.
Hopes and prayers to Liam - the loss of taste and smell isn’t in some ways all that debilitating, but it can take much richness from life. Still, what was that? - “every day above ground is a gift”?
can’t wait to see that first baby pic…
monstrously busy here - i start my SCUBA cert. course Sat. - will try to send news or even blog again when -if- the hurricane abates.
-K
Since this is an election year, and I am not a dad… I guess that the quote that got me “scared” or “angry” the most is this:
I was going to the hospital. I said “What! That’s expensive!!”
To have an accident that will change your life and think abou the expense, is a symptom of the sad welfare system in this country.
Universal Health Insurance… Can we get it with the bailout package? 700 billion might get it going!
Eric you socialist! Lover of big government! Don’t you know we need more US government in Iraq and less US government here at home!!! After all the free markets can take care of themselves just fine, can’t they?
Let’s deregulate everything, especially health care. In fact, who needs branches of government? Let’s just have an executive branch run by the president, I mean, the vice president. Other branches are outdated, kind of like the sense of smell. That way nobody will know when we stink.