‘Going to Be Walking’ : Upbeat Man Fights Back From Injury

For 25-year-old Danny Shaw, life was as warm and mellow as the Southern California sun.

He had an auto mechanic’s job he loved, in the city he loved, San Clemente. “It was all there for me: swimming, surfing, trips to Mexico. It was great,” he recalled.

Then, on April 9, that dream life turned into a nightmare.

While cooling off in the ocean near Doheny Beach during that month’s 100-plus-degree heat wave, something happened. “It was a freak accident,” Shaw said. “I still don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden I was floating on my back.”

Hit Head on Sand

Shaw somehow had struck his head on the sand and had broken a vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. “I woke up in the Mission Community Hospital intensive care unit,” he recalled. To his horror, the active, fun-loving bachelor learned that he could not walk and even had trouble using his hands and fingers. The world, he said, suddenly looked very bleak.

But now, three months later, Shaw is in rehabilitation at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, and he is cheerful and upbeat. One big reason, he said, is because of good friends from San Clemente. Those good friends are staging a Dance for Danny this Saturday night in San Clemente to raise money for Shaw, who has no hospitalization insurance.

“San Clemente is a great place,” Shaw said in a hospital interview. “It’s paradise. I’m going to be going back there. And I’m determined I’m going to be walking.”

Shaw’s primary nurse in rehabilitation, Gretchen Leathers, said she thinks the young man is progressing amazingly well because of his optimism.

‘Great Attitude’

“He’s got a great attitude,” Leathers said. “It’s a matter of adapting and realizing that, hey, you can do what you want to do--you just have to change your ways a little bit. And Danny’s got that real good attitude. He’s very motivated, and he’s going to be able to be independent because he is so motivated.”

Leathers smiled, and added: “Danny also has a great sense of humor. I suppose you’ve heard about his famous food fights? Well, he and his roommate (in the hospital) every now and then throw food at each other. Now, of course, their aim is too good, but I like the idea. It shows these guys are really trying.”

Dr. Kenneth Parsons, director of the spinal cord injury program at Long Beach Memorial, said: “The impact of spinal cord injury can be overwhelming for some people, but some people, like Danny, can ride it through. He has great energy in tackling his rehabilitation functions. I think that Danny’s a particularly courageous fellow in the way he’s handling his situation.”

Shaw propels himself around the medical center’s vast rehabilitation wing in a wheelchair. “At first, I had trouble even sitting up for a few minutes, but now I can get around in this thing pretty well,” he said.

A tall (6-foot-1), slim man, Shaw at one time looked gaunt after his accident. He went from his normal weight of 175 down to

140 pounds. “But now I’m back to 160 pounds and getting stronger as I work in rehab,” he said.

Shaw’s long brown hair is pulled back in a pony tail. It’s normally not so long, he said. “I was due for a haircut when this accident happened . . . and . . . well, it’s hard to get a haircut with this thing.”

The “thing” is a metal, circular-shaped brace that Shaw must wear as part of his therapy. “It’s called a halo, and it keeps my head straight,” he said. “I get to take it off July 19, and I can hardly wait.”

Shaw’s halo and metal braces don’t look like standard hospital issue. “That’s because I painted them,” Shaw said with a grin. “I have fire flames painted here on the front and candy stripes on the poles in back. Hey, you got to have a sense of humor.”

Although he now seems to be an outgoing, witty person, Shaw said he was shy during his years at San Clemente High School, “and I wasn’t in a whole lot of organizations.” He graduated from high school in 1982 and took a job with Shadetree Automotive Repair in San Clemente.

“The job is fun, the pay is good, and I really liked it,” he said. “I learned to surf about three years ago, and the job allowed me lots of time for that.”

Shaw said he has always been a good swimmer and knowledgeable about the treacherous ways of the ocean. He said he therefore is at a loss to explain what happened to him on April 9.

“I was down at the beach for a barbecue with my boss and some friends on that day, and it was very hot, during that heat wave, so I went in to cool off,” he said. “I don’t remember diving into the surf or anything like that. And the surf was real low that day. I don’t know what happened. I just remember floating on my back--feeling like I was drowning--and yelling and saying a few choice words. I remember flapping my arms and catching a wave and landing on the beach. Then somebody dragged me up the beach, and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.”

Friends from San Clemente have frequently visited him and sent him cards and letters, Shaw said. “They’re some really nice people, such as Katie Arons. Katie’s been a friend since junior high,” he said.

Arons is spearheading the Dance for Danny fund-raising event that will be held from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday in the San Clemente Community Center at the intersection of Del Mar and Seville streets. The suggested donation is $20 per person, Arons said, and she added that San Clemente residents and businesses have “been really great in supporting this. . . . It makes me very proud to be a San Clementean.” Businesses have donated many door prizes that will be given during the dance, she said.

“We hope to have 500 persons attend, and that way we’d raise about $10,000 for Danny,” Arons said. “Danny’s been so brave in trying to live with his paralysis, and the way he jokes and laughs--well, it’s the same old Danny.”

Arons said advance tickets may be purchased at the Shadetree Automotive Repair in San Clemente or at the Dana Point Inn. “Some people have asked how they can send in donations if they can’t attend the dance, and we’re telling them to mail checks to Friends of Danny Shaw, 32901 Staysail Drive, Dana Point 92629,” she said.

Shaw, during the hospital interview, said the outpouring of love and support from people in Orange County has meant a lot to him as he tries to adjust to his new life.

“The little things are the hardest for me,” he said. “Things like learning how to put on my clothes and how to shave myself. But I’m learning, and it’s nice to have these friends.

“I really love San Clemente. Just a perfect place. When I leave the hospital in September, I’m going to Oceanside to live with my mom for a while. But I want to go back to San Clemente eventually, and eventually that’s where I’ll be. I may be struggling with a cane, but I’ll be walking those streets in San Clemente.”