PARALYZED TEEN DREAMS OF
COACHING
Published on FRIDAY, May 5, 1989
© 1989 The Arizona Republic
Byline: By Kathryn Saunders, The Phoenix Gazette
David Carey says he's used to doing things the hard way.
The athlete who said he passed up two football scholarships at four-year
colleges to play baseball at Scottsdale Community College now is almost
completely paralyzed after a gun accident.
He has some major obstacles in his dream to become a coach but hasn't
given up.
The 19-year-old plans to someday finish school and possibly return to his
hometown of Bay City, Texas, near Houston, to coach baseball.
Doctors at Samaritan Rehabilitation Institute are doubtful Carey will walk
again but tell him finishing school is a reasonable goal, Carey said in a phone interview.
He is getting around by wheelchair.
Carey has been in rehabilitation since he was shot March 7 with a gun his
roommates believed was unloaded. The bullet traveled down a hallway and through his bedroom door as he slept, entering his back and moving up the spine.
Carey has some movement in one arm and some feeling in the other wrist, said SCC counselor Debra Glasper, who has visited Carey.
Doctors estimate Carey will be in therapy for about a year, she added.
SCC students, clubs and staff members are hoping to help Carey, who has no medical insurance, by staging several fund-raisers to defray medical expenses.
Because the gun accident in which Carey was shot occurred off campus,
school insurance does not cover expenses. Neither of Carey's parents had insurance, he said.
''My mom just got laid off,'' he said.
Campus plans include an athletic department-sponsored wheelchair
basketball game at 7 p.m. today featuring former Phoenix Suns Dick Snyder, Dennis Awtrey and Neal Walk and former Arizona State University and National Basketball Association all-star Joe Caldwell.
They will join SCC president Art DeCabooter and coaches in opposing the Samaritan Wheelchair Suns in SCC's gymnasium.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children, available at Dillard's or at the door.
A dance with music by D.J. WRST is set for 9 p.m. fri today in the SCC
cafeteria. The Black Student Union and student government are
co-sponsoring the event and requesting a donation of $3.
On May 13, a swap meet is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the campus's northwest parking lot.
It also will feature arts and crafts displays, games, food, live music and free helicopter rides.
Vendors can reserve spots by calling 423-6541. Cost is $8 per space and $12 for corner spots.
All proceeds will go to the David Carey Fund.
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