A week before dreams of playing their senior seasons on the Brighton High School baseball team would become a reality, Brain Lahti, Brandon Walters and Jace Mounteer were returning from a hitting camp at Southern Utah University in Cedar City.
They were driving over a pass near Beaver when the car hit some ice and slid off the road into the median, rolling three times. All three were wearing seat belts, and Mounteer and Walters suffered only some scrapes and bruises.
Lahti was not as lucky.
"I remember it all: sliding and then rolling and flipping in the air," said Lahti. "My first thought after was just that I couldn't move my legs."
He suffered what the doctors call an incomplete break of the spinal chord. It left Brian nearly completely paralyzed from the chest down, with limited mobility in his arms and neck.
"When I woke up from surgery, I could maybe move my wrists, barely, and shrug my shoulders," he said. "Now I have some feeling all the way down. It is not the normal sensations, but if someone rubs on my legs, I can feel that now."
Lahti has been living in the Rehabilitation Center at the University Hospital for the last seven weeks. But his family happily announced that Brian has made such tremendous progress that he has a projected release date of May 3.
A normal day consists of several different classes and therapy sessions. He begins with what they call occupational therapy. The class teaches him to do the day-to-day things that the average person takes for granted — getting dressed or brushing one's teeth.
From there, it is on to physical therapy — working on rolling from the bed to a wheelchair, or even just sitting up.
"It was weird," Lahti said. "In the beginning I couldn't use my abdominal muscles at all, I couldn't sit on the edge of the bed without falling over. Now, I have enough use of them it is no big deal."
An independent living skills class is next, a class that his mom says is very important to him.
"Brian is still just like any other teenager. He talks all the time about how as soon as he can he wants to move out and get his own apartment," said Denise Lahti.
After another session of physical therapy, mainly weightlifting, and another occupational therapy hour that focuses on regaining use of all his fingers, Brian Lahti gets a little time to spend with his friends and family.
One group that still spends as much time as possible with Lahti is the baseball team. "Brian is still a part of this team. We have his number on our hats, and his uniform is still hanging in his locker," said Brighton coach Greg Hales. "He is still an inspiration for us."
Lahti was even able to attend one game earlier in the season. With his continuing progression, and with a little pleading to his doctors, he is hoping to attend many more. His inclusion in the team was solidified when it recently made the trip to the hospital to pose for the team picture.
"The team is a big part of his life. He consults with the coaches all the time, and he tries to help with the lineup. Not that they listen to him," his mother joked.
Teammate Brandon Walters has mixed emotions every time he takes the field. "It's hard looking over at first base and not seeing him there. It makes you want to play hard, but it still gives you a reminder that he is not around," he said.
Walters spends about five nights a week with his friend, and he feels that Lahti is doing better than anyone else could put in the same situation.
"His attitude is amazing," Walters said. "He's going to get down, but he never blames anyone. He just keeps on going. He has a drive inside of him that doesn't say quit. He is so great about it."
With the incomplete break, the prognosis for recovery is uncertain.
" They know it won't get any worse, but we're just not sure what will happen," Lahti said." All the movement could return, or there could not be any change at all."
"The doctors said he was lucky that it was only a spinal injury and not anything with the head," said his father, Ray Lahti. "We've been here seven weeks, and of course your initial response is hard, but we know it could have been a lot worse."
Brian Lahti says that he is looking forward to just getting back home and settling in. "I want to go back to school, watch some games, and just hang out with my friends."
He plans on graduating this spring with his class, and although baseball is no longer in his future, he plans on attending Salt Lake Community College next fall.
"I don't know if this really has changed much of my outlook," he said. "I pretty much just take whatever comes and go with it. Work hard, and go along in life."
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com