Tiny Steps Forward

When it comes to his 16-year-old son, James Nunnery finds comfort in all the small steps: When he opens a door. Or washes his hands. Or flips on a light.

For Donte, the once-promising Rio Mesa High School athlete, such achievements now come only after great struggle.

But they also are measures of great progress and hint that the teenager may finally be returning from that cold, dark place where the brain slips into a neutral gear and refuses to move the body in any direction.

Nearly a year ago, Donte collapsed on the gym floor at Agoura High during a junior varsity basketball game. He sank deep into a coma, only to emerge a month later unable to talk or walk, in need of round-the-clock care.

Recovery has been slow but steady: Although he can walk--even run--he still labors to perform many simple acts.

There have been small steps, like being able to open his eyes and crack a wide smile. And bigger ones too, like saying his name, first and last, and even shooting baskets.

Last month, Donte took his biggest step yet, returning to Rio Mesa as a special-education student intent on relearning such basics as the letters of the alphabet and the colors of the rainbow.

“Sometimes I just sit down and look at him and my heart just gets so full that I have to walk out of the house,” said James Nunnery, a carpenter just home from a long day on a construction job.

He speaks softly, careful not to wake Donte, who has had a long day of his own and has fallen asleep while sitting on the couch.

During the most desperate times, the elder Nunnery would spend hours this way, studying his son as he slept in a hospital bed, hoping, praying that he would open his eyes and emerge from that cold, dark place.

But he lets his son sleep now, confident that the worst is over and that the old Donte is simply gathering strength, waiting for just the right time to make a comeback.

“Sometimes when he’s walking around, I can see glimpses of his old self,” he said. “His laugh is back. And he walks fast like he used to. He’s looking better all the time. Just look at how far he has come.”

In fact, there is little noticeable difference in appearance between the Donte Nunnery of this year and last.

He is a little skinnier and wears his hair a little longer. He still cracks an easy smile and, like the Donte of old, can still send his classmates into fits of laughter with his antics.

But around campus, it’s obvious that students know the difference. Donte was emerging as a big man on campus, a popular student and stand-out athlete, the latest in a long line of Nunnery brothers and cousins to excel in sports at Rio Mesa High.

Now it’s as if students are seeing a ghost, as if they are not sure what to make of this person who looks so much like their old friend but who clearly has been drained of some vital energy.

“I think a lot of kids are afraid of him, they don’t know what to say,” said lifelong friend Ernie Borjas, who played on the baseball and basketball teams with Donte.

“They’re more ignorant than anything,” he said. “He’s still the same guy to me, it’s just that something bad happened.”

It is still a mystery what happened that night last December.

During the final minute of the game at Agoura High, Donte suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed without warning while running down the court. Initially, school officials say, Donte still registered a pulse and was breathing on his own.

Doctors later told the family that for some reason Donte’s heart then shut down completely and he stopped breathing. With a lack of oxygen to his brain, he soon slipped into a coma.

He had no history of health problems. Doctors were never able to pin down exactly why it happened.

The night it happened, a coach, with a registered nurse who climbed out of the stands to examine Donte, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived and took over.

For the next month, the Nunnery family kept a vigil at Donte’s hospital bed at Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks. They read to him and prayed for him and played his favorite music.

James Nunnery, youth minister of an Oxnard congregation, read to him from the Bible. He read from the 11th chapter of the Book of John, in which Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

“I never gave up hope,” he said. “I knew that he was young and strong, and that he would be able to pull out of it.”

After nearly a month in the Thousand Oaks hospital, Donte’s eyes fluttered open. As he improved, he went first to the rehabilitation center at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo and then to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. He returned to his Oxnard home in June.

Last month, the Nunnery family filed a lawsuit alleging that school district officials failed to provide adequate medical care at the basketball game and didn’t act quickly enough to treat Donte when he collapsed.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that school officials were not prepared to handle a medical emergency and that as a result Donte went without CPR for nearly 11 minutes while paramedics were summoned.

The suit seeks $20 million in damages, alleging that Donte suffered life-threatening injuries, extreme mental anguish and permanent brain damage. Although insurance covered hospitalization, the family must carry the cost of continuing care and rehabilitation.

“We’re looking at what this young man is going to need for the rest of his life,” said Oxnard attorney Samuel Heredia, who is representing the Nunnery family. “It has been a tremendous burden on the family and they are having to foot the bill.”

The lawsuit names Rio Mesa High, Agoura High, the Oxnard Union High School District and the Las Virgenes Unified School District as defendants.

Korman Ellis, an attorney for the Oxnard school district, said the lawsuit is groundless. Donte had no history of health problems, was playing a non-contact sport and collapsed for no apparent reason, Ellis said.

Moreover, Ellis said, school officials and others did everything possible to minister to Donte, first calling paramedics and later performing CPR when the need arose.

“It’s tragic, but I really think they did everything they could,” Ellis said. “It’s the kind of thing that happens spontaneously and that could have happened any time, any place and in any activity.”

Rio Mesa’s junior varsity basketball coach, Dave Bregante, thinks that is true. But he said that is of little comfort when he sees what has become of Donte, how the once-gifted athlete now has to struggle with even the simplest tasks.

After Donte’s collapse, Bregante was in contact with the Nunnery family nearly every day to check on his progress. And now that Donte is back in school, Bregante visits him often, spending nutrition breaks and lunch hours with him.

“I see people look at him and say, ‘Oh my God, Donte, what happened to him?”’ said Bregante, whose eyes well with tears when talking about the high school athlete. “But I saw him when he couldn’t open his eyes. Then his eyes opened and he was able to blink. Then he started moving his head and tracking you with his eyes. I’ve seen progress. They are tiny steps, but he keeps moving forward.”

Just how many more steps Donte will take is anyone’s guess.

On campus, there are times when he seems like himself again, his old personality erupting in fits and starts. In fact, his behavior is filled with the kinds of automatic responses that raise the hope of continued recovery.

On the basketball court, he can still easily pass and catch the ball. And when he shoots, his wrist still automatically snaps down at a 90-degree angle, the practiced follow-through of a jump shooter.

But he can barely dribble the ball. And when he runs, he rises up on the tips of his toes in a way that makes his mother, Lorean, nervous.

“He’s like a regular teenager sometimes,” said Linda Ortiz, a teacher’s aide in Donte’s special-education classroom. “He has good days and bad days. But some days it seems like he’s really coming back to us. Only time will tell if he makes it all the way back.”

Special-education teacher Richard Kennedy works with Donte each morning, leading him through a series of drills to help him relearn some basic lessons.

On a recent morning, he asks Donte whether he ate breakfast and, if so, whether he had toast and cereal. Donte answers most questions yes or no, although it’s hard to tell if he knows exactly what is being asked.

“Can you touch your right ear?” Kennedy asks. Donte slides his hand up his cheek, eventually reaching his left ear.

“No, that’s your left ear,” Kennedy says. Donte’s hand slowly drifts to the other side of his head, a move that wins heaps of praise and a high-five from the veteran school teacher.

The lessons will continue like this throughout the morning. When pressed too hard, Donte will squirm in his chair or place both hands over his ears or bounce his left leg up and down in an unceasing nervous motion.

There are even times when he will become so agitated that he will pop out of his chair and bolt for the door. Kennedy calls these Donte’s contrary moods. And he likes when they take hold.

“That’s good. That’s independent thinking. That’s him expressing what he wants,” said Kennedy, who has been a special-education teacher at Rio Mesa for 15 years.

“So far all I’m basically trying to do is fill in the big picture, and I don’t have very much of it colored in right now,” Kennedy said. “But I can tell you he’s learning things all the time.”

Kennedy said Donte has made marked improvement since returning to school last month. In fact, he credits the students with helping Donte make much progress in recent weeks.

Senior Eleanor Sweeney, 17, is among those who have helped out. She visits Donte at each nutrition break and lunch hour, and works exclusively with him one period each afternoon.

Sometimes they shoot hoops. Or take a few laps around the track. And sometimes they just leaf through pictures or work on the computer.

“I know he knows what’s going on,” Eleanor said. “A lot of people think he doesn’t know what’s happening around him, but that’s not true. It’s just that he needs to relearn everything again. It’s not going to be easy, but I know he can do it.”