Soaring to New Heights After Injury : Preps: Troy Patterson overcame the loss of his lower right leg to become one of the area’s best high jumpers.

Troy Patterson of Los Altos High felt uneasy when an official told him that he would have to remove his sweat pants to compete in the high jump in a dual meet last month.

In his two years of competing in the event, he had never taken the sweats off.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Patterson stripped to his track shorts.

And for the first time since the accident when he was 11--he was hit by a car driven by drunk driver and lost the lower part of his right leg--Patterson exposed his prosthesis in competition.

“I can do whatever I set my mind to do,” Patterson whispered to himself as he concentrated before his jump. “Don’t worry. Be cocky. Be confident.”

And then, Patterson jumped three inches higher than he ever had before. He won the competition and set a school record along the way with a leap of 6-feet-5.

To many, it was a remarkable feat, considering that Patterson’s best jump last season was 5-6. But it was something considerably more than remarkable to Patterson.

It meant he had finally emerged from under the athletic shadow of his identical twin brother, Tracey. After years of watching his brother in the spotlight, Troy was finally on center stage, alone.

Even his father, Brad Patterson, was surprised. When told that his son had broken a school record, he thought Tracey had done it.

“I took it as a joke when Troy first went out for the high jump,” Brad Patterson said. “It was a real shock to me when I found out that he broke a school record that had lasted for 10 years. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Since then, Troy has continued to soar in the high jump. He has broken his own record three times; his personal best is the 6-7 he jumped in the Miramonte League meet three weeks ago.

Troy cleared 6-6 at the Southern Section Division III meet at Cerritos College Saturday, but failed to advance to the Masters Meet.

“When he first started, it was just nice to have him out there,” Los Altos Coach Dave Reeves said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting him to go this high. He has a good chance to go way higher with better competition. He really has not missed a jump this year.”

Not bad for someone who only three years ago walked around school still trying to disguise his injury.

“I tried to hide it from everybody,” Patterson said. “I walked with a limp, but I tried to deny it. I used to tell people that I was just cool or that I hurt my foot a little.”

But then, adjusting to life after the accident had always been difficult for Patterson and his family.

As a child growing up in West Los Angeles, Patterson and his twin competed against one another in everything.

If Tracey made five shots in basketball, Troy tried to make six. If Troy caught three passes in football, Tracey tried to catch four. Competition and athletics were a way of life for the brothers.

It all changed that afternoon in 1986, when Troy was struck by a speeding car running a red light in South-Central Los Angeles. When Patterson woke up in the hospital, his right leg had been amputated below the knee.

“After the accident, he went through a slump,” said Rosie Patterson, Troy’s mother. “He just felt sorry for himself and was depressed and down. He hated his (prosthesis) foot because he couldn’t do things he wanted to do with it.”

For months, Patterson tried not accept his handicap. Even after he was given his first prosthesis, he refused to join his brother and friends in activities.

“He didn’t like to see me do well,” Tracey Patterson said. “He always said that he wished he had his other leg so he could beat me.”

One reason Patterson struggled with his injury was that his first prosthesis was stiff. He said it felt like a wooden stick.

Patterson’s father also had a difficult time coping with the injury. As if a part of him was missing, Brad Patterson went into depression.

“I had to go to counseling because I was emotionally disturbed following his accident,” Brad said. “I’m not completely over it, but I do feel a lot better about it now.”

Despite the urging of his parents to find other interests--they bought him a computer and encouraged him to join the school choir--Troy dreamed of the day he would be able to compete with his brother again.

He wanted to be like Bill Demby, the Vietnam War veteran who returned to basketball in the Du Pont Chemical commercial. He still had hope.

After his family moved to Hacienda Heights, Troy slowly began to come out of his shell. As a sophomore, he went out for the track team and, despite his 5-foot-10, 140-pound frame, threw the discus.

Patterson finished last in nearly every meet, while his brother was emerging as the school’s top athlete. Still, he felt good about being back on the playing field.

The next year, Troy tried the high jump, at the urging of assistant Dave Shirley, who told him he needed only one good leg to jump. Troy uses his natural leg for his takeoff.

He had problems with the high jump but he never gave up. The only thing that bothered him was watching his brother win almost every event he entered, from the 110-meter hurdles to the high jump.

“It kind of bugged me, seeing him just start out and beat me like that in the high jump,” Troy said. “But, I kept saying to myself that one day I would do anything he did even better.”

Then one day his doctor, Darrell Blades, decided to order a special prosthesis, called the Seattle foot, for Troy.

“He stated to me what he liked to do, so I felt that it would be worth a try,” Blades said. “It just took some time before he finally was able to get one.”

With help from the California Children Services and Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles, Troy got his new foot and his life began to change.

He noticed immediately that he could run and jump and not look funny to himself. He had spring again.

But as his senior track season approached, Troy had problems with the new foot. He broke four versions of it.

So, when the season started, he jumped with a loaner until he began using the prosthesis he has now.

Despite the lack of a high jump coach, Troy has improved with every meet. And because of his determination, he has become a hero to many around the school.

“I never saw him as handicapped,” said Suzanne Kongkeo, a senior high jumper on the Los Altos girls’ team. “But, I think if he had two good legs he probably wouldn’t do as well. He’s jumping like this because he’s pushed himself so much to prove he could do it.”

At meets this season, Troy received more than his share of stares from opponents. But instead of letting that bother him, he has used it as motivation.

“My favorite line to them is, ‘You have two feet and I have one and I’m out-jumping you. How do you feel?’ ” Troy said. “But most of the time I’m just asked how did I lose my leg. I’ve been asked that question so much that I should just have a tape recorder and tell them to listen to this.”

Troy plans to continue his jumping career at Mt. San Antonio College and hopes to have cleared 7 feet by this time next season.

“One thing you can be sure from him is that he will definitely give it that extra effort,” Brad Patterson said. “I’m his father and he taught me never to count a person out. He taught me the lesson that if a person works hard enough, he can overcome any obstacles. He’s changed my whole outlook on life.”