The Observer, October 13, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 7
Tim Cowdrick grateful to be alive, playing football for Case
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The grind of being a student athlete is demanding. Long practices, long roadtrips, long nights of homework. The mental and physical fatigue that results can make a quitter out of anyone.
All of that fatigue seems minimal to Tim Cowdrick. Cowdrick, a freshman receiver on the Case football team, had not only his football career but his life almost end in June 2005. One day while working for a construction company, Cowdrick was raking pebbles off a roof of a building, four stories high. The next thing he remembers, he was lying in a hospital bed surrounded by family members.
Cowdrick does not remember how it happened, but he fell off the roof and onto the cement pavement below. He suffered a broken spine and several fractured vertebrae. Doctors performed spinal fusion surgery by taking a bone graft from his pelvis. They also inserted six titanium screws to fuse the vertebrae. A painful recovery process followed.
Cowdrick's father, Jake Cowdrick, recalled the moment when he first learned of the accident.
"I found out about 30 minutes after it happened," Jake said. "I was told he was being life-flighted to Metro [Hospital], and that he was moving but was in severe pain. That calmed us a little bit, but I knew it was pretty serious."
Like most people, he feared the worst when he received the news.
"I thought he was going to be dead or in a vegetated state," Jake said. "Luckily he didn't do anything to his head."
The initial prognosis was that Cowdrick would never play football again, which greatly upset the family. However, that initial prognosis later improved, and another doctor said that within a year of the surgery, Cowdrick could do whatever he wanted again.
It was a miracle that he would be able to play football in a year's time. However, Cowdrick was not satisfied. It was his senior year of high school at Mentor. He wanted to be on the field at some point that season.
Sure enough, the healing process progressed quicker than expected, and about a month later, Cowdrick was jogging. Four months later, he was cleared to play.
In Mentor's last home game of the season, Tim caught a 26-yard pass in his team's win over Admiral King High School. It was an emotional moment for Cowdrick and his family, friends, and teammates.
"It was exciting," Cowdrick said. "Channel 5 was there, and I got interviewed at halftime. When I caught the ball, a lot of people gave me a standing ovation, and my coach gave me a big hug. It was just awesome to be there with my friends."
Cowdrick said that being told he would not be able to play that season just gave him more motivation him to do it.
"I just wanted to get back for my senior year, before we all went off to college," he said. [The doctor] told me I could play baseball [the following spring], but football was different, with having so many friends on the team. By having doctors tell me that I was not going to be able to play, that made me want to do it even more and prove that I was fine."
On paper, the story sounds like a miracle, so miraculous in fact that it seems too easy, that it was not such a long road back. However, Cowdrick still remembers the pain and the misery of trying to walk again.
"It was tough because it hurt so bad," he said. "I'd walk around so stiff and straight up, and I'd ask people 'does it look bad, does it look like I'm walking like a stiff?' My friends would say 'don't worry about it, you're lucky to be alive, you're going to be OK.' I had to take it real slow and make sure that I didn't fall."
"I did a lot of walking with my dad and girlfriend, walking around the block, just to get out of bed. I would wake up at six in the morning every day when the medicine would wear off, and I'd scream in pain. The medicine made me dizzy and nauseous. I wanted to stay in bed all day."
Thanks in part to his determination and the support of his family and friends, those painful days are a thing of the past. At the same time, the accident helps Cowdrick keep life in perspective.
"There are a lot of times when I think I might not be here right now," he said. "It makes me appreciate things a lot more."
His dad echoes those sentiments and is thankful that his son is still alive. For him, each time Cowdrick steps onto the field, it is a special moment.
"We never thought we'd see him playing football again," Jack said. "To see him contributing as a freshman is unbelievable. He's a tough kid. I would never bet against him."
