Students learn horrors, challenges of injuries
Two men share advice on avoiding spinal cord injuries
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Sam Spencer (r), of Brick, uses a model to show the children what Tom Spadaro's spine looks like. Spadaro has been unable to move his limbs since he was 11 years old, when a friend accidentally shot him in the back of the neck. Spencer is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a skiing accident.

OLD BRIDGE - Tom Spadaro and Sam Spencer want to make sure schoolchildren do not end up like them.

Though the two men have learned to live happy and healthy lives after suffering major spinal cord injuries, they paid a visit to the Voorhees Elementary School Friday in order to teach kids how to avoid such accidents, while educating them about individuals with disabilities.

"Tommy and I are in these wheelchairs for the rest of our lives," Spencer told the students. "We are not going to get better."

According to Spadaro and Spencer, 12,000 spinal cord injuries occur in the United States each year. Nine out of 10 of the injuries are preventable, they said. Car accidents are by far the top cause of spinal cord injuries. Guns are the second highest cause; falls, the third; and diving in shallow water, the fourth.

Tom Spadaro, of Toms River, shows students how he uses his chin to maneuver his motorized wheelchair during his visit to Voorhees Elementary School in Old Bridge.

The men stressed the importance of wearing seat belts when riding in motor vehicles, school buses included, and even when only traveling a short distance.

"They can happen at very slow speeds and in very unusual ways," Spencer said.

In urging the children to take precautions to avoid injury, the men told their personal stories. Spencer competed in ski races from the time he was a child. At the age of 29, he was practicing on the slopes of Killington, Vt., and suffered a fall, sliding down the hill, and broke his spine on a padded pole.

Someone happened to be videotaping Spencer at the time of the accident, and he brought the clip along for the children to view. The third- and fourth-graders groaned with empathy as they watched the impact of Spencer's back against the pole. He explained to them that because of the injury, he is now a paraplegic.

"It means I cannot feel anything or move from the waist down," Spencer said.

Spadaro's injury was worse.

"Believe it or not, I was shot with a gun when I was 11 years old," Spadaro said.

The father of Spadaro's friend had a gun, and the two boys would sneak out into the woods to shoot at cans and bottles. Spadaro's friend shot him accidentally one day when he was putting the gun away. The bullet entered Spadaro through the back of his neck, in the area of the spine that causes the worst injuries when damaged.

"It hurts when I lean to the right, because the bullet is in my head," Spadaro said.

Spadaro is a quadriplegic. Unable to move any of his limbs, he controls his motorized wheelchair by moving a joystick with his chin. He must be fed, bathed, dressed and helped to use the bathroom by a caregiver, Spadaro said.

He told the children to remove themselves from any situation when a gun is present, and immediately tell a responsible adult.

"I wish someone would have told on me," Spadaro said. "It didn't have to happen."

In terms of the other top causes of spinal injuries, Spadaro said many devastating falls occur while jumping on trampolines. He stressed the importance of wearing a helmet when taking part in activities that could result in injury.

Spencer pointed out that most diving injuries happen in ponds, lakes and other natural bodies of water, not pools. He told the students to enter the water feet first in order to establish how deep it goes. When diving accidents happen, Spencer said, the results can be even more devastating than paralysis.

"Now you're in the water and you can't move," Spencer said. "So many of these accidents result in death by drowning."

Despite being confined to wheelchairs, both Spadaro and Spencer have found ways to work around their disabilities.

Spadaro is able to use his voice to control various things in his home, such as the lights and television. He also has full use of his computer through voice-operated technology.

"Now that it's the 21st century, the technology has gotten better and better," Spadaro said.

Conducting educational visits to schools and colleges is only one way Spadaro helps to broaden public knowledge about spinal cord injuries. He also spends his time doing advocacy work with state legislators.

Spencer's injury has not kept him away from his passion - skiing. He still takes part in races, but now by mono-skiing.

"It was very humbling to learn how to ski again," Spencer said.

Riding a bike is a skill said to never have to be re-learned, but in Spencer's case, it was slightly different. He now rides a handcycle, apparently a skill he has mastered. In order to raise money for multiple sclerosis, Spencer rode from Sandy Hook to Cape May, which is more than 190 miles.

Spencer is also able to drive, by hoisting himself from his chair into the driver's seat of his car, and operating the brakes and gas through hand controls.

"We don't want to sit on the couch like couch potatoes and not do anything," Spencer said.

The men invited the children to ask questions of them, pointing out that there were no topics that would be considered stupid or taboo. One student asked if people ever made fun of their disabilities.

"I've never in 17 years had a negative incident," Spencer said.

Spadaro said he had not been so fortunate.

"Before I had my injury, I used to make fun of people," Spadaro said. "Please don't make fun of someone because they're different, because it really does hurt."

Spadaro and Spencer's visit was a part of the school's Disabilities Awareness events that day, the brainchild of school counselor Jean Czarkowski. She said the day could not have come together without the efforts of many teachers who conducted in-class activities and projects to help raise awareness on the part of the children.

"I think everybody in the school is either personally affected by a disability or knows somebody who is personally affected by a disability," Czarkowski said. "We wanted to teach children tolerance and acceptance of people with varying abilities, and promote the true spirit of inclusion."