He Sees Life on a New Level : College basketball: Pepperdine’s Mark Georgeson, a 6-10 center, had his body and his dreams shattered by a head-on collision.

A three-foot long, raised red scar begins at the front of Mark Georgeson’s left thigh, horseshoes over his hip and continues downward over his buttock to the back of his leg.

Its winding pattern, stitched during reconstructive hip surgery, eerily resembles the Malibu Canyon road on which Georgeson was driving a year ago when he was involved in a head-on collision that almost killed him, ending his basketball career at Pepperdine.

The driver of the other car died a few days later of his injuries.

“Sometimes I wish I could go run a mile or go play on the playground,” Georgeson said while tracing his fingers along the length of the scar. “But you can’t because your body stops you from doing that.

“It’s always that little slap of reality that keeps coming back, ‘You’re lucky to be alive.’ ”

Reminders of the accident are everywhere for Georgeson.

Seventeen bolts, two plates and a pin remain in his leg and pelvis after four operations.

Several times a week, he passes the collision site on his way to Camp David Gonzalez, a juvenile facility run by the Los Angeles County Probation Department where Georgeson works as a volunteer.

And finally, there is the court date, Feb. 25, when Georgeson is scheduled to stand trial for one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. Georgeson has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in the county jail.

The uncertainty about his future has lately made the usually gregarious, 6-foot-10 Georgeson a bit more reserved. But it has not quelled his optimism or his enthusiasm for helping others.

“I wouldn’t trade what I’ve gone through for a new hip or my old body,” said Georgeson, a high school All-American from Marina High in Huntington Beach who transferred to Pepperdine from Arizona in 1988. “I’ve learned a lot at an early age about keeping things in perspective.

“When you go through a traumatic experience or have something that you love get taken away from you, you can relate to more people on a lot deeper level. Not everybody can understand being successful, but everybody can understand being hurt.”

Georgeson, 21, remains on scholarship at Pepperdine. He cannot run or jump, but he attends practices and games and helps coach the Waves’ big men.

“You can see it in him, he wants to be out there playing,” said Derek Noether, a redshirt freshman center. “He tells us over and over not to take things for granted. It really bugs him when we’re just humdrumming it, instead of going hard and getting the most out of our ability.”

When not in class or with the basketball team, Georgeson spends time at Camp David Gonzalez where his fiancee, Stella Berkebile, teaches. Georgeson organizes games, gives haircuts, tutors and talks to the kids.

“He’s always up and motivated and uses some of his experiences to motivate these kids,” said Bob Stanley, the camp director. “I’d like to have him working here full time. For someone who didn’t have a lot of experience working with these kinds of kids, he’s kind of a natural.”

The entrance to Camp David Gonzalez is only 100 feet beyond where, shortly after midnight Feb. 15, 1990, Georgeson’s career and his dream of someday playing in the NBA were shattered.

Pepperdine players had returned to Malibu in vans after a loss at Loyola Marymount. Georgeson got into his brown 1979 Honda Accord and began the journey to his apartment in Calabasas. The only thing he remembers about the accident, which occurred on a blind curve, is the flash of headlights before the collision.

“When I regained consciousness, my head was bleeding, the clutch and gas pedal were up in my crotch and the stereo and keys were in my knee,” he said. “I couldn’t feel one leg or see it.”

David Campbell, a Pepperdine assistant, came upon the scene a few minutes later. He stopped to offer help, soon realized that Georgeson was involved and stayed with him until paramedics arrived.

“All I remember is holding (Campbell’s) hands and looking at the initials on his shirt,” Georgeson said. “I kept saying, ‘Coach, sorry I’m getting blood all over your shirt.’

“I just wanted to see my fiancee and my parents. I didn’t want to die without telling everybody I loved them.”

Paramedics freed Georgeson from his car with the jaws of life. He was taken to Westlake Hospital and rushed into surgery with a broken pelvis, broken leg, broken ribs and a large gash on his forehead.

Georgeson spent six days in intensive care and 45 days in various hospitals. He had two operations on his hip, one on his knee and one on his face. He worked with a home therapist for six weeks and took his first steps without crutches three months later.

Parkie Singh, 52, of Malibu later died of injuries suffered in the crash.

“That period of ‘Why me?’ goes quickly,” said Georgeson, whose father, Dick, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive weakening of the muscles caused by nerve degeneration and commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “In my case, I could look across the room and see my dad struggling to hold up a newspaper or taking 45 minutes to brush his teeth. I didn’t have a right to complain.”

Despite his height and the recognition he received in high school, Georgeson was far from a natural on the basketball court. Gangly and inexperienced, he smoothed out the edges of his game by making it an obsession. Georgeson rarely saw the ends of televised NBA or college games because the action almost always spurred him to leave the sofa and practice.

“There are a lot of guys in high school that can coast and still be above everybody,” Georgeson said. “I had to play hard to be above everybody. I was never a great athlete.”

Georgeson averaged 17 points and 11 rebounds his senior year, then headed to Arizona, where he planned to combine with another freshman, Sean Rooks, and form what was heralded as the “Tucson Skyline.”

Georgeson redshirted his first year and underwent surgery to repair a lingering stress fracture in his right foot. Unable to run with a cast during his recovery, he followed the advice of the Arizona coaching staff and bulked up--from 205 pounds to 275 in eight months.

“They told me, ‘Lift weights, lift weights,’ so I did that and ate six meals a day,” Georgeson said. “Then they said, ‘You’re getting too big, lose weight,’ so I ran over the summer to get ready for the next season.”

Georgeson played six minutes in Arizona’s first three games in 1988, but said he did not believe he was in Coach Lute Olson’s plans.

“I think (Olson) was just looking for someone a little more athletic,” Georgeson said. “(Maryland transfer) Brian Williams, for example.”

Seeking a school that would be closer to his family, Georgeson called Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury, who knew him from youth basketball camps, and transferred a few weeks later.

Last season, Georgeson averaged four points and 2.5 rebounds in 20 games for the Waves.

“He was rusty because he had been out of action for so long, but he was starting to improve like we anticipated,” Asbury said. “Our thinking was that this year and next year would be really big seasons for him. He was progressing well.”

After the accident, Georgeson received more than 1,000 letters of encouragement from the Tucson area. A note from television commentator Dick Vitale, who lost an eye in an accident, also served as inspiration.

“(Vitale) said, ‘Mark, you have other talents. Don’t let one setback stop you from pursuing other avenues.’ ”

Georgeson has heeded the advice. In December, he is scheduled to graduate with a Liberal Arts degree and plans to pursue a career as a teacher and counselor.

“I see him developing areas that he didn’t before because of basketball, especially the people aspect,” Berkebile said. “It’s hard for him to sit and watch games because he wants to be out there, but he knows that he can’t. It’s a constant inner struggle, but he’s winning.”

Georgeson is eager to put his trial behind and move forward. He still walks with a slight limp, but the accident and his continuing recovery from it, he said, have made him stronger.

“I don’t look for tribulations, but I don’t shun them either,” he said. “I know there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what, it’s never a final defeat.”