First and goal in sight for sole survivor of horrific crash
EDMONTON — High school football player Zach Judd’s bright red Ultimate Fighter T-shirt just about says it all.
Last October, Judd was in a coma and suffering from brain injuries, a fractured skull and a punctured lung when he was wheeled into hospital. He was the sole survivor of a horrific traffic crash, involving a suspected drunk driver, that killed four of his teammates.
After weeks of intense physiotherapy, the 16-year-old will soon walk out of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton and return to his Grade 11 classmates at Grande Prairie Composite High School.
“It has been really hard,” Judd said Friday as he sat between his mother, Desiree, and his physiotherapist Annette Lemke, the two people who have been the driving force behind his recovery.
“They pushed me to do things that I can’t really do — I couldn’t do at first — but now I can. At first it was really hard, but now it’s not that hard.”
Judd and his family declined to talk about the crash that killed the four players from the school’s Grande Prairie Warriors.
The teen instead spoke of his dream of eventually playing football, rugby and basketball again.
But he must be patient.
For at least the next year he must avoid any sport that could result in another head injury and will have to work hard on regaining his sense of balance.
“I can’t play the sports that I like playing because of the brain injury,” he said clearly, but slowly. “I have to take a year to get ready to play them.”
At the Glenrose, Judd was all smiles as he showed off how far he has progressed by playing badminton with Lemke, doing high jumps and sprinting down hospital corridors with her by his side.
He said the hardest exercise in his recovery treatment is standing on one leg with his eyes closed.
Lemke said she has nothing but admiration for the teen’s spirit and determination. Flashing a grin, Judd said working with her is the high point of each day.
Lemke said Judd is recovering well from post-traumatic amnesia, a brain injury condition that affects memory and makes it difficult to process information.
“He has come a long way from needing help walking and being quite off balance,” she said. “Zach is an amazing athlete, and he still is.”
His mother wiped away tears as she watched her son deftly handle questions from the media in front of a phalanx of clicking cameras.
She said Judd’s siblings and friends have been supportive and are eager for him to return home. But it’s the staff at the Glenrose, especially Lemke and her assistant Lori Wolfe, who have really made the difference.
The October crash killed Walter Borden-Wilkins, Matthew Deller, Tanner Hildebrand and Vincent Stover.
Brenden Holubowich, 21, faces impaired driving causing death and other charges and is to face a preliminary hearing in August.
Faced with the enormous loss right before the playoffs, Warriors coach Rick Gilson’s team didn’t quit. Its players rallied around the memories of their friends and went on to win their league championship — a week after the crash — before losing in the quarter-finals at provincials.
Gilson, who is also principal of the high school, was honoured late last year as NFL Canada’s youth coach of the year. He beat out more than 400 nominations from across Canada.
Judd is to walk out of hospital on Feb. 29 and expects to walk into his high school early next month. His friends are already texting him about his plans when he returns home.
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