Sam Paneno gives back more than he lost

Sam Paneno doesn’t do self-pity.

“Why me?” never crossed his lips.

Or his mind.

“I was always taught to look at life from different perspectives,” the former UC Davis running back says, “and that you have a choice on how you react to things.”

Ten years ago, the national spotlight found Paneno in the darkest of times, revealing an athlete of uncommon character, unflagging spirit and remarkable perspective.

He had just lost a leg.

A Davis sophomore and former La Canada High standout, Paneno had shined brightly in his first collegiate start, rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns in a game against Western Oregon on Sept. 11, 1999, at Monmouth, Ore.

But on the first play of overtime, he was tackled from the side and suffered a severely dislocated right knee, an injury his coach called the worst he’d seen in 20 years in football.

At Salem Hospital, about 15 miles away, doctors discovered that an artery that sends blood to the lower leg had been severed. Blood flow was restored through surgery, but nine days later -- after Paneno had been transferred to the UC Davis Medical Center -- 90% of the muscles in his lower leg were dead.

The leg was amputated below the knee.

From the hospital, Paneno smilingly discussed the procedure on ESPN. CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and even People magazine filed reports noting his courageous attitude, the latter observing, “His cheerfulness in the face of a devastating injury has made him a hero to virtually everyone who knows him.”

Letters and e-mails poured in from throughout the country. The Miami Dolphins invited him to a game at Oakland, presenting him with a game ball afterward. Later, Paneno was among the first recipients of the NCAA’s Inspiration Award.

Ten years later, he’s still an inspiration.

A lawyer at the Alliance for Children’s Rights, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the rights and futures of abused and impoverished children throughout Los Angeles County, Paneno speaks up for those who would otherwise go unheard.

And he does it, his appreciative boss notes, with a passion and a fervor that belies his gentle, unassuming manner.

Says Executive Director Janis Spire, who hired Paneno away from a private law firm 2 1/2 years ago, “Even though it probably cut his earning capacity by more than half, he saw this as an opportunity out of a commitment to the kids. . . .

“He’s not just talking the talk. He’s about leveling the playing field for kids who don’t have a voice.”

At Davis, Paneno said, he considered a career in medicine, but after his injury, “I was done with doctors and hospitals.” He turned to law, he says, “because I wanted to help people.”

And few needed more help, he found, than foster children.

“As you can imagine,” Paneno notes during a noontime interview near his Mid-Wilshire office, “they’re in the system because they’ve been abandoned, abused or neglected.”

Paneno, 31, was never any of those things.

Married to college girlfriend Aniela Winkowski, who was an All-American diver at Davis, he says a strong support system helped him navigate his ordeal -- and others that followed.

Only a year after Paneno lost his leg, a younger brother, Rocky, fell from a sixth-story balcony when the railing collapsed, a horrific accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Then their mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I think it’s a lot tougher to see someone else go through a traumatic experience than to experience one yourself,” Paneno says, noting that his mother is fine. “My brother has overcome quite a bit, and to watch him take life by the horns and look at life in a positive way is all I could ask. Really, his injury put my injury into perspective. He’s an inspiration to me.”

And vice versa.

“Sam has always been out ahead, exploring new aspects of life, setting up guideposts, allowing me to find my own path, and never let me fall too far behind or get lost,” says Rocky, who graduates from USC next month. “Even when it came to life-altering injuries, Sam was able to provide a road map to recovery.”

Even after losing his leg, Paneno vowed to continue pursuing his recreational interests: rock climbing and surfing. He recently returned from a rock-climbing trip but hasn’t surfed, he says, “because part of me doesn’t want to wake up that early.”

A scholarship funded through USC’s annual “Swim With Mike” swim-a-thon, which raises money for grants awarded to physically challenged athletes, paid Paneno’s way through law school. (Another is paying for his brother’s education.)

Later, a settlement from a lawsuit brought against the doctors who originally treated him gave Paneno the financial freedom to leave a higher-paying job to work for a nonprofit.

“The greatest gift this whole experience has given me is my relationship with my wife,” he says. “It’s made my family stronger and strengthened my philosophy on how to look at life.”

Staying upbeat, Paneno insists, is not so difficult.

“The first thing you have to do when you’re a disabled person is learn to accept yourself,” he says. “If you can do that, I don’t think it’s extraordinary to be positive about who you are.”

The 29th annual “Swim With Mike” swim-a-thon will be April 18 at the McDonald’s Swim Stadium on the USC campus. swimwithmike.org or (213) 740-4155.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com