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"A Family Tradition for 133 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 27, 1999 - 11 Pool accident a close call for local man Lee Wilbur's on the mend after an Incident that could have turned out much worse By John B. McClelland Port Perry Star Lee Wilbur knows he's a very lucky man these days. He can walk. And he can hug and hold his two young girls, Brittany, five years old, and Jenna, four months. He knows that were it not for the hand of fate, sheer good luck, or whatever, he very well could be facing the rest of his life in a wheelchair. A moment's carelessness early in June in the back- yard pool of a friend left the Port Perry man with a bro- ken neck. Fortunately, sargeons at Sunnybrook Hospital were able to repair the damage. Today, some six weeks after the accident, he appears on his way to a full recovery. Lee will be assessed medically again this week at Sunnybrook. But indications are that this horrific injury will leave him with nothing more than a vertical scar on his neck, just above the shoulder blades, and a pair of titanium plates along his spinal column. g Lee, who has been active in sports all his life, is guard- edly optimistic that his recovery will even allow him to return to the non-contact recreational hockey league he so much enjoys each week at the Scugog Arena. "Perhaps not this fall," he told the Port Perry Star in a recent interview at home, as he mused about returning to hockey. "I'm certainly not going to rush things. I'm taking it day by day and a lot will depend on the (progress of) physiotherapy." That will continue after further medical assessments. As a hockey and fastball player all his life, and now a coach in the Port Perry Minor system, Lee had a layman's knowledge of neck and spinal cord injuries. ~ Until June 12 of this year. Then it. all got personal. That was the date he took a plunge into the pool at a friend's home, struck the back of his neck on the bottom of the pool, and knew instantly that "something was very, very wrong." . It was the kind of a shallow dive, into a five foot deep, above ground pool, he had done numerous times in the past. But on this occasion, for some reason, the dive was too deep -- a careless split second -- and what could have been his worst nightmare began.' There was not a lot of pain initially, he recalls, just severe pressure between his shoulder blades: "like some- one holding down a sledge hammer." He surfaced and instinctively reached out for the near- est pérson in the pool, who happened to be his older broth- er Todd. ES Lee Wilbur is recovering after breaking his neck _ in a friend's pool. Todd and others got him up onto the pool deck. Three nurses who were present, including Lee's wife Lisa, helped immobilize the neck and keep him calm while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. He was first taken to Port Perry Hospital for initial x- rays, then sent on to Oshawa General where a CAAT scan revealed that one of the vertebra high in the neck had slipped over another, crushing a third. In short, he had broken his neck. He was sent immediately to the famed Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, where he spent the next 36 hours or so in traction with a 50-pound weight used to pull the vertebrae back into position. On the Monday, some 48 hours after the accident, he went into surgery at Sunnybrook. Doctors took a chunk of bone from his hip to replace the damaged vertebra in his neck. Titanium plates were dgserted along the spinal chord to keep things in place. Some 48 hours after the surgery, wearing a neck collar, he walked out of hospital and was on his way home to Port Perry to start the recovery process. Doctors told him his chances for recovery were helped by the fact he is strong and in good shape physically, and because there were others close by to help him at the time of the accident. Had he been alone in that pool, the out- come could have been vastly different for the worse. While in Sunnybrook, Lee learned about and saw oth- ers with neck and spinal cord injuries who were not as 'lucky; those left with partial and full paralysis. The accident caused Lee to do a lot of soul searching and reflecting on his own good fortune, and the fate of others who are not so lucky. With Lee's encouragement, family and friends are holding a dance this coming Saturday (July 31) at the Utica Hall. Utica is where his parents Carol and "Hilly" still reside, and where they raised their three sons, Scott, Todd and Lee. The money will be used for spinal cord research and regeneration, Lee told the Port Perry Star. Tickets, at $10 per person will be available at the door and music will be by the Travellin' Wilburs (Todd and his wife Carolyn). The dance will also give Lee and his wife Lisa a chance to personally thank those in the community who have been so supportive and helpful during the difficult time since the accident. That support, he says, "has been just tremendous". Lee hopes it will help as well to raise awareness of just how serious neck and spine injuries can be, and how they can happen so suddenly. "I hope we can get the message across about injuries and (the need) for spinal research and regeneration," he said. The next medical assessment, slated for this week, will tell Lee more about when he'll be able to go back to work at Van and Truck World in Oshawa. The dance this Saturday at Utica Hall gets under way about 8 p.m. WINDOWS & PATIO DOORS ir Energy efficient ; windows reduce draft & increase warmth. 1 Alcan vinyl & aluminum windows. NBRIDGS £31) LU NA &4 a. 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