True Grit : Huskies’ Shane Pahukoa, a Burn Victim as a Child, Has Always Been Tough

The doctors told his parents he probably wouldn’t survive.

Shane Pahukoa, playing with children in the back yard of a relative’s house while vacationing in Vancouver, Wash., had suffered third-degree burns on his head, neck, left hand and body when a cousin poured gasoline onto a campfire, causing the flames to leap onto Pahukoa’s face.

As he lay in a hospital bed in Portland, Ore., his head swelled to about three times its normal size. His mother couldn’t recognize him.

“Wayne, my husband, would sit in there with him because I just couldn’t stand it,” said his mother, Donna. “It was hard to go in there without being absolutely sick to your stomach.

“It was awful.”

That was 13 years ago.

Pahukoa, his appearance altered forever, endured a childhood that included skin grafts, reconstructive surgery, the wearing of a protective mask off and on for three years, cruel taunts from classmates and the equally painful stares of insensitive adults.

Today, Pahukoa, 21, is the No. 1 free safety for No. 1-ranked Washington, co-captain of the Husky defense and leader of a secondary that has been described as the best in college football.

He is hoping that Washington can win a second consecutive national championship and a third consecutive Rose Bowl game.

Chris Tormey, who coaches defensive backs at Washington, called the 6-foot-3, 202-pound Pahukoa “a rock, he’s so very dependable.”

Teammate Walter Bailey described him as considerably more lively.

“He’s an animal,” Bailey told the Everett Herald.

Said Washington Coach Don James: “The one thing that’s probably as impressive about him as anything else is, our players look up to him just from a standpoint of his toughness.”

During the Huskies’ 34-14 victory over Michigan last January in the Rose Bowl, Pahukoa suffered a separated right shoulder while tackling tailback Ricky Powers on the first play of the game.

He never missed a play.

“After each series, I’d come off and they’d throw some ice on it,” said Pahukoa, who admitted that it was painful when he twice raised his arm to break up passes intended for Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, once deflecting the ball to Bailey for an interception.

Last month, Pahukoa broke his right hand during a scrimmage.

He hasn’t missed a game, playing with his hand in a cast while calling signals in the secondary and helping Washington to a 3-0 start.

“If I get hurt, it’s no big deal to me,” said Pahukoa, who will have the cast removed before Saturday’s game against USC at Husky Stadium. “No little injury will keep me from doing what I want to do.”

Not after what he has endured.

“It was tough on him,” Jeff Pahukoa, a reserve offensive lineman for the Rams, said of his brother’s childhood. “It wasn’t impossible, but it was tough. You’re a kid, and kids are going to tease you. I had many fights with many people.”

His brother, two years older, probably saved Pahukoa’s life, rolling him on the ground and getting him under a faucet to put out the fire.

“I just reacted,” said Jeff, his brother’s teammate for two seasons at Washington. “The hardest thing was afterward, taking him to the hospital.”

Pahukoa spent about two months at a hospital in Portland.

After returning home to Marysville, Wash., about a 30-minute drive north of Seattle, Jeff rarely left Shane’s side.

“He couldn’t really go out and meet a lot of people because of the way he looked,” his brother said. “So, even though we were two years apart, he and I did everything together.”

Playing with older kids might have helped Shane to mature.

“I think it made him grow up a lot faster,” Jeff said. “His natural ability came out a lot sooner.”

Excelling in athletics helped improve Pahukoa’s self-image.

“He got burned so early in his childhood that sports became a factor,” his mother said. “It was a way to keep him busy, and he was always successful because he always tried so hard.

“I think he was determined to show that he could do what any other kid could do. He always wanted to be the best.”

Pahukoa was a two-sport star at Marysville-Pilchuck High. In football, he earned all-state recognition as a running back after rushing for more than 1,000 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior. As a basketball player, he averaged 11.4 points while helping the Tomahawks to a fifth-place finish in the state Class AAA tournament.

Before his senior year, Pahukoa won a dunk contest at UCLA Coach Jim Harrick’s summer basketball camp at Pepperdine.

He was recruited by Brigham Young and several other Northwest schools to play football, but with his brother already at Washington, it was a foregone conclusion that Pahukoa would join him if the Huskies offered a scholarship.

When they finally did, Pahukoa accepted without hesitation.

He started one game as a freshman and two as a sophomore but grew frustrated and depressed playing as a backup to Tommie Smith, a former Southern Section player of the year from Antelope Valley High.

“Neither of us was red-shirted, and I felt like they were kind of wasting me,” Pahukoa said. “I thought I’d always be a backup.”

His determination waned.

“I went out there and gave it about 75%,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to play, and my grades went down. My parents will tell you, and my girlfriend will tell you, I wasn’t too much (fun) to be around.”

But when Smith experienced grade problems before last season, Pahukoa took over at free safety. He held the job throughout the season as the Huskies won all 12 of their games and claimed a share of their first national title.

Smith returned, but he was moved to strong safety.

Only two Huskies, linebacker Dave Hoffmann and tackle Steve Emtman, made more tackles than Pahukoa last season as Washington’s defense ranked second in the nation against the run, second against the pass and second overall.

The Huskies gave up less than 10 points per game, and Pahukoa was named the Huskies’ most improved player. This year, he was elected as one of four Husky co-captains.

Despite his success, or maybe because of it, strangers still stare.

“It’s hard to tell if people are staring at me for my face or for what I’ve done,” he said. “A lot of people have stared at me and I’ve said, ‘Excuse me,’ and they’ll say, ‘I recognize you. You play for the Huskies. I was wondering if I could get your autograph.’

“I can’t be too judgmental when I see people staring.”

He has steadily overcome his shyness, his mother said.

“He does real well now,” she said. “But every once in a while, you see him revert back to putting his head down and not wanting people to look.”

Pahukoa has thus far avoided additional plastic surgery.

“I’ve been like this all my life, so I might as well stay like this,” he said. “Maybe later, when I can afford it. I don’t want my parents to pay for it. If I get drafted and I have the money, I might go in and see what they can do. Technology has really been upgraded (with regard) to scars.”

His brother, Jeff, has counseled burn victims, and Shane said that he would like to as well.

“I’d tell them that life goes on and you have to accept what happened,” Pahukoa said. “You don’t have to believe what people say about you. It’s only physical. You’re still the same inside.”