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Hit-run survivor buoyed by friends
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer NEW PORT RICHEY -- Brandon Presley was in the parking lot of the Wing House restaurant late Friday, celebrating a rare victory for the Ridgewood High football team. But his joy turned to horror when he saw fellow senior Nate Bradley, a friend and teammate, struck by a white car that then sped down U.S. 19. "I could hardly sleep that night, because all I could picture was Nate flying over the car," Presley said Monday. "I ran after that car. I really wanted to catch it. I ran down 19, saw the car run a red light and hit another car. "The whole time I was running, I thought Nate was dead." Bradley, a two-way starter for the football team, survived. But the broken right leg he suffered in the hit-and-run incident will at least sideline him for the rest of football season. He was released from the hospital Monday afternoon -- with enough friends, balloons and flowers in tow that the entourage of well-wishers couldn't fit in one elevator. "There have been so many people here that when the people out front see anyone that looks young, they just say, "He's in Room 316," said Bradley, 18, who had a wall-length Nike poster covered with get-well messages from friends in his hospital room. He had reason to celebrate Friday night, as Ridgewood had beaten Hudson in the season opener for both teams. Bradley's twin sister, Natasha, works at the Wing House, and a group of his friends had gathered there after the game. Bradley, 18, walked out at just after 1 a.m. Saturday to pick up a friend's shoe that he had hidden in a pothole on the side of the road. The white car had passed by once before, Bradley said, but swung around and sped toward a group of his friends before turning toward him. "I heard tires spinning and when I looked up, all I saw was headlights," said Bradley, who leaped up but was struck in the right leg and had his right arm go through the car's windshield. "The next thing I knew I was on the ground." New Port Richey police found a white Mazda Protege, thought to be the car that struck Bradley, abandoned Saturday near Louisiana Avenue and Congress Street in New Port Richey. Investigators have talked to the car's registered owner and were in the process Monday of contacting others who may have been in possession of the car Friday night, according to Capt. Daryl Garman. An important part of Bradley's senior year was taken from him Friday night -- he was a starter on the Ridgewood varsity at tight end and defensive end after two years away from the sport. After catching a 44-yard pass in the Rams' preseason game a week earlier, he had one catch Friday in Ridgewood's victory against Hudson. He also caught a touchdown pass that was called back by a holding penalty. "I think we're all fortunate that he wasn't more seriously injured," said first-year Rams coach Troy Cornwell. "We'll recover as a team, but we feel for him, because this is his senior year and he won't be able to play football." Bradley, 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, also was a honorable mention on the Times all-county basketball team last year, and he spent this summer at four basketball camps to prepare himself for this season. Doctors told him Monday that he'll never play competitive sports again. But Bradley isn't even giving up on playing this winter. He was fitted with a cast Monday and will wear it for 6 to 8 weeks, with basketball season starting in about three months. "If it is physically possible to be done, Nate is certainly the kid I'd expect to do it," said Gary Anders, Ridgewood's boys basketball coach and athletic director. "He's a hard-nosed kid, a hard worker, a fighter. His trademark has been his toughness, and that's what Nate is to me." Bradley's mother, Carmen, estimated that more than 150 people had been to see her son at the hospital. When Bradley woke up Saturday morning, coach Cornwell was at his bedside, having hurried to his room when he learned of the accident at a team car-wash fundraiser. Teammates and friends filed in and out over the weekend, and another group of students brought a cookie cake baked in a home ec class Monday. Classmate Rob Marchido, who picks Bradley up each day on the way to school and was with him Friday night, drove toward Bradley's house Monday morning out of habit before remembering his friend wouldn't be there. When Bradley was released from the hospital Monday afternoon, he rode home in Marchido's sport-utility vehicle, the camouflage-colored cast propped up on his friend's back seat. Two days before Bradley was injured, another county football player was involved in another car accident. Zephyrhills senior Paul Maxwell, also a two-way starter at tight end and defensive end, was driving home from Tampa on Wednesday night when he swerved to avoid another car and struck a tree. He was released from University Community Hospital after two days with minor cuts and bruises to his chest and knees. On Monday, Bradley's right arm and back are covered with "road rash" from his hitting the pavement -- about 40 feet from where the car struck him, he figures. He expects the bruises and abrasions will make using crutches a painful step in his recovery. But Bradley vows to be a part of Ridgewood's season from the sidelines and will focus on rehabilitating his leg with the hopes of a return of the basketball court. "Any time injuries or an illness occurs, I think attitude is a vital part of rehabilitation," said Anders, the basketball coach. "It's certainly going to be a challenge for him, but I think he's up to meeting that challenge."
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
