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Sunday, April 07, 2002

Veteran jockey Tony Dlugopolski was paralyzed in a racing accident at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort Dec. 29. Though he has regained some movement in his extremities following surgery to fuse two compressed vertebrae, he faces about two years of rehabilitation. Doctors have said there are "no guarantees" how much movement will return, said his wife, Pam.

To help with costs that might not be covered by traditional health insurance, the Mountaineer racing community and the track are teaming to raise money through an auction/dinner dance April 24 at the resort's new convention center. The event is open to the public.

Dlugopolski, who was approaching his 4,000th victory, is in UPMC Rehabilitation Hospital in Shadyside working as hard to regain motion and control as he did to win races.

"I think it's wonderful what they're doing for me," Dlugopolski said in a brief telephone interview. "A lot of people have come to see me, and I have a lot of people keeping me up to date."

He said his goal is to get back to the track, but isn't sure how that idea would go over at home. "I'd love to ride again, but my wife said if I do she'll leave me. I told her, 'Hon, you've been great, but I'll see you around,'" he joked.

The accident occurred when a horse in front of his clipped heels with a third horse and fell. Dlugopolski tried to get around, but the fallen horse flipped and his legs caught those of Dlugopolski's mount, which fell on its side. Dlugopolski was thrown flat onto his neck. "I knew right away," he said. "I told the paramedics I was paralyzed."

The disc in his C3 vertebra was driven into the spinal cord.

Doctors waited three weeks for the swelling in his back to go down. Then, they removed the disc and inserted a piece of bone from the hospital's bone bank and fused the C3 and C4 vertebrae.

Motion has returned a tiny bit at a time. He recently began to regain control of his trunk and can bend over in a chair and sit back up. He can feed himself with the aid of a special tool with his right hand. While sitting in his chair, he also can lift his legs to an almost straight position. He reached a milestone the Wednesday before Easter when a therapist helped him get out of his chair, balanced him and then timed him while he stood unaided for a minute and 12 seconds.

Dlugopolski has regular health insurance through his wife's job at the Pittsburgh Poison Center. But he is not a member of The Jockey Guild and would not receive the lifelong disability benefits the union's blanket insurance provides if he does not make a complete recovery. He has, however, received some aid from The Don MacBeth Fund, which was founded to help such riders by jockey Chris McCarron and actor Tim Conway.

The fund-raiser committee is seeking gifts to be auctioned at the dinner dance. The affair will include a prime rib buffet and 50/50 raffles along with the gift auction. Dress is business casual.

Items already donated for auction include a bear hunt in Saskatchewan, a television set, reclining chair, and a Penguins jersey autographed by Mario Lemieux. All donations are tax deductible and checks should be made out to The Don MacBeth Fund.

Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased by calling Sandy Witherow at 304 387-0315.

For more information, call Maureen Andrews at 304 387-3388.

Pohla Smith can be reached at psmith@post-gazette.com.