Hello, My name is Leigh Symons, and I am from Adelaide, Australia. I went to LA in 2003 to achieve my dream of playing Professional Baseball in US Major Leagues. Things were going really well up until Oct 23rd, 2003, where i had my dreams cut short, but a awful brain injury. Ive been rehabbing for 5 years now, and have done a lot of things i thought i would never do, like write an inspirational speech!
I really hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to add me to MSN, or to email me at leighsymons@hotmail.com
Would like to get in touch and here your own personal stories!
Thanks,
Leigh
Inspiration speech: 3 stroke’s and not out! –
Baseball story of Leigh Symons
Baseball dreams… Dreams of being a PE teacher…
Never really that good a player in the beginning. Meeting Quiess, (Andrew Quissier – my first real pitching coach!), winning the Alan Waldron medal, big event for my baseball life! Then trying out for SASI squad this is basically the best young baseball talent being trained with the best coach in the State, and missing by a spot, shattering but gave me so much extra motivation to make it next year.
Making the squad with Warwick Marks (Wally) he is the head baseball coach of the SASI baseball squad and also has done a lot of other Australian and international coaching roles, huge improvements in my motivation and desire to go as far as possible with baseball…
Throwing really good in early 2003, getting offered a part scholarship to West Texas,
Meeting (Josh Frick) Fricky’s billet Aimee, 2002 or so. We got along really well and she said if you ever want to play college ball in LA you can stay with me! Tell them about her background…
Then meeting Tom Pokorski, (Pork) he was a good friend of Wally’s and also the pitching coach from Pasadena City College, from LA, deciding to go to LA to live with a family instead of on campus…
Doing good over there, don’t remember any of my pitching or games over there at all.
But receiving a "yellow jersey" within 2 weeks of starting pre season training. This is so the scouts can see all the players who they are looking to sign. This is a very big achievement having received it so quickly. 3 different teams were thinking of drafting me, the LA Dodgers especially!
The LA Dodgers are the team I support and that would have been a dream come true, if I did sign with them. I came so close to being offered a contract, even the head Dodgers Scout of all of LA spoke to my father and said how close I came to being drafted… This was my number 1 dream in life, from early teenage years, this is what I worked so hard for, for many, many years to achieve this dream of being signed by a Major League baseball team in USA, this would have set me up financially for the rest of my life if I played well enough, and made the big leagues…
Then 23-10
Against East LA at their home ground, middle of gang land territory. Awful place to be.
The last words spoken to me were by my Coach who yelled out "just give them something to hit Leigh" next pitch was belted back at my left temple at over a 150mph. All of my hopes and dreams of getting signed by the Dodgers were in an instant gone. My skull was fractured around the point of impact on the left temple and also the back of my head when I flew back around 10 feet off of the mound and banged my head behind the mound.
My injuries were nothing short of horrific, 3 strokes also a 1.5 cm blood clot all through the brain. Went into "grand mal" seizures immediately after the impact. Stabilized at the field then rushed to the hospital. Very lucky I had 2 players’ parents. Ted Basitties and Pam Buttikoffer, a Dr and a Nurse. They both used their medical training to stabilize me.
Very lucky I was so close to one of the best hospitals in the world for neurosurgery. Also very lucky to have 2 surgeons free for the surgery which enabled me to keep my own skull. If not I would have had a metal plate and a lot of screws to replace my skull. They actually send the army Dr’s there to train before they get sent to Iraq.
Even the surgeons both thought I was a lost cause, they saw my brain and one of the surgeons Professor Hart was stunned at how bad it was, all swollen up and bruised. No real hope and chances of even coming out of the coma. Let alone getting back on with an everyday life. After a month or so transferred to another brain injury rehab facility. Casa Colina? This is one of the best places for rehab in the world. I was rehabbing very well, no one could believe what I was doing and how I was overcoming all of these dire predictions.
When my brother Scott called into East LA hospital to ask why I still the had the neck brace on, Pro Hart and the nurses asked him how I was doing, Scotty told them I was walking and talking, they said absolutely impossible. Scotty told them well he’s gonna come in here next week and say "g’day mate" to you. They all said they couldn’t wait…
Me coming back to the hospital, and Pro Hart was amazed, nurses too, went back to my bed where I was in the coma in. He stood at the door with his arms across his chest like a proud father seeing his baby for the first time!
Final surgery, pop the skull back in my noggin
back home to Hamstead
I thought I may have finished rehab when I left America but I now realize it was the start of a process which may last for many years. I got home and then had to go into Hampstead which is the brain injury rehab facility for Adelaide. I spent a couple of days at home first and then moved in. It was hard getting used to it. Since my sense of direction was really messed up. Sometimes I had trouble finding my way back to my room after lunch and dinner etc…
Very frustrating! Embarrassing story, one day I could not find my way back to my bedroom, and I just sat down on the floor and started to cry. It was all my emotions coming out. I stayed down there for a few minutes then I realized I was like a few seconds away from my room!
Yet when I went back there for the yearly check up I walked straight to my room!
The staff at Hamstead were all very nice and caring. I got started talking with this nice male orderly there. Middle aged man. He always had a smile on his face, really happy man.
It’s around a 20-25 minute drive from my own home. It looks quite old with a lot of nice big buildings.
I was sort of anxious going into Hamstead. I didn’t know what to expect, I just wanted to get all better ASAP, even though I knew that was a hard task…
The purpose of Hamstead is to fine tune patients to get them ready for life after a serious injury. It’s basically a place where you can get ready for life again in the real world, sometimes on your own.
It was nice having your own room at Hamstead, I like my freedom, if you wanted to socialise you could always head in the TV room or the games room and interact there.
Hamstead is a very helpful place to help people get a near as possible to a full recovery. However it is hard since every patient there has had a terrible injury or disability which usually means the place is quite sad. However the staff there were always helpful.
It almost sounds embarrassing of me to say it but I felt ashamed of how weak I was there. Coming from being a very fit base baller working every single day on fitness and now finding myself struggling to do the most basic exercises. Even looking back at my first SASI gym program it looks so easy now. Yet back then it was hard! Keep on working with the professionals when they give you advice and you will get there!
Then home rehab
Aimee now doing nursing college in Kansas all due to my accident. Every single thing has its ups and downs. My baseball career was buggered yet Aimee’s nursing career started with my accident. Positive spin on life. Always look on the bright side of life.
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