Less than two years after =
snapping her=20
spine in a bus crash that killed two teammates, Haley Scott was ready to =
dive=20
into the University of Notre Dame pool again.
She splashed into =
the water=20
to the cheers of not just classmates, family and fellow swimmers, but =
also the=20
state trooper who responded to the accident scene in January 1992, =
nurses from=20
the hospital where she healed and the mother of one of the young women =
who=20
died.
Defying doctors' predictions that she would never walk - =
let alone=20
swim - again, on Oct. 29, 1993, Scott posted the best time of her life =
in the=20
50-yard freestyle and won the heat.
"The most exhilarating =
feeling for me=20
was not the race but the start," said her former coach, Tim Welsh, who =
broke a=20
rib in the crash. "The moment she left the block, I thought, 'My God, =
she did=20
it.'"
![3D"Baltimore](3D"http://www.baltimoresun.com/images/branding/masthead_subpages.gif"=)
June 26, 2008
Overcoming difficult odds
Annapolitan's book details her recovery from a broken back
Today, Haley Scott is Haley Scott DeMaria, a wife =
and mother=20
of two in Annapolis. Her book about her emotional and physical recovery, =
What Though the Odds, co-written by Bob Schaller, is set to hit =
bookstands Monday under the auspices of USA Swimming, the sport's =
national=20
governing body.
The book is meant to be a guide on how to emerge =
from=20
tragedy, not just another beat-the-odds story, Scott DeMaria said.=20
"Tragedy will affect everybody in their lives to some extent," =
said=20
Scott DeMaria, 34. "I could not have come out of this without my=20
community."
She rebuffed earlier attempts to tell her tale. For =
years,=20
she was not ready to relive the night that took the lives of fellow =
freshmen=20
Meghan Beeler and Colleen Hipp.
The women's swim team was headed =
back=20
from a meet in Chicago and was just a few miles from home when its bus =
skidded=20
on an icy highway during a blizzard, struck a culvert and flipped over. =
Scott=20
climbed out an open window and walked several feet in the snow before =
clasping=20
her back in pain and collapsing, said teammate Susan Bohdan=20
Walton.
Walton, who suffered whiplash in the accident, stayed =
with Scott=20
until help arrived an hour later. When Scott complained that she =
couldn't feel=20
her legs, Walton told her that the coldness of the snow had probably =
made her=20
feel numb.
In fact, the snow might have prevented permanent =
paralysis by=20
staving off swelling in her spine, doctors later told Scott. Doctors =
initially=20
prepared her for life in a wheelchair and the possibility of never =
bearing=20
children. Her fortunes changed, however, and Scott began a long road to=20
recovery. It included more surgeries when the steel rods supporting her =
back=20
broke apart and punctured her skin.
After a summer of lying flat =
on her=20
back, she returned for her sophomore year at Notre Dame. On her first =
Saturday=20
back, she was honored during halftime of a football game. Scott, who had =
been=20
unable to attend the funerals and memorial services for her friends, =
finally=20
felt the warmth of the close-knit Notre Dame community in full force.=20
Scott resumed her collegiate swimming career but never again =
swam faster=20
than her comeback race. Her chances of developing into an elite swimmer =
had=20
ended with the accident, a fact that deepened her pain.
But over =
the=20
years, Scott realized that her story could help others. After returning =
to her=20
hometown of Phoenix, Ariz., she was working at a Catholic prep school =
when a=20
senior was killed in a drunken-driving accident on prom night. She gave =
grieving=20
students insight into how to survive the pain and =
disillusionment.
"That=20
was hard, but it was very healing for me," she said.
Still, it =
wasn't=20
until she moved to Philadelphia in 2000 that she thought about telling =
her story=20
publicly. When a neighbor was stricken with terminal cancer, Scott =
DeMaria=20
shared her written recollections with her. The woman, Kathy Reitenour, =
later=20
told Scott DeMaria that she was one of the few people who understood the =
agony=20
of fighting for survival.
"To see how much she was moved by it, I =
realized that keeping this to myself ... was almost selfish on my part," =
Scott=20
DeMaria said.
When USA Swimming approached Scott DeMaria a few =
years ago=20
about a possible movie, she was finally ready. After going through =
several=20
scripts that didn't work, the two sides agreed to pursue a book. She =
obtained=20
the permission from the Beeler and Hipp families.
Scott DeMaria =
said she=20
believes that the book provides the in-depth treatment the story needed. =
The=20
title comes from a line in the Notre Dame fight song. Former Notre Dame =
football=20
coach Lou Holtz wrote the foreword.
USA Swimming started =
publishing=20
excerpts last week on its Web site, www.usaswim ming.org.
"I =
think it's a=20
story that ought to be an inspiration not only to everyone within the =
swimming=20
community, but to anyone who has had to overcome a tragic personal =
experience=20
or, even worse, a physical accident," said Chuck Wielgus, executive =
director of=20
USA Swimming.
Walton, a counselor who lives in Atlanta, said the =
book=20
focuses on Scott DeMaria's journey and does not try to force a happy =
ending on a=20
story that claimed the lives of two friends.
"She is aware that =
her=20
comeback story begins with their deaths," Walton said.
Scott =
DeMaria's=20
story of gutsy determination can give others hope, said Welsh, now head =
coach of=20
the men's swim team at Notre Dame.
"She's a woman who had no =
business=20
walking again, had no business swimming again, had no business =
graduating on=20
time, had no business having children," he said. "She did all of=20
it."
Since the birth of her boys, James, 6, and Edward, 4, Scott =
DeMaria=20
has not found time to swim, but in the past few months, friends have =
coaxed her=20
back into the pool.
Scott DeMaria, who moved to Annapolis in =
2004, said=20
she tries to become a part of the community and help out when she can. =
She knows=20
the importance of having a network to rely on.
"Part of that is =
to be=20
there for others when they are going through hard times," she said. "The =
only=20
thing I can do is reach out to others in their time of =
need."
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