Obituary: Paul J. Kuszaj / Defied all expectations, inspired many after aneurysm
Share with others:
When Paul J. Kuszaj suffered a severe brain hemorrhage in 2001, his wife was told he likely had just hours to live.
The friends and colleagues of the popular librarian at Barrett Elementary School in Homestead were told that if he recovered, they shouldn't expect him to ever walk or talk again.
His then infant son, Shane, wasn't ever going to be able to play games with his father, and another son, Corey, now 5 -- well, he just wasn't supposed to be possible, period.
Mr. Kuszaj defied all of those dire medical predictions about his arteriovenous malformation, as the brain damage was technically known, with the same buoyant spirit that had made him a center of attention throughout his life -- popular enough to be crowned homecoming king at Slippery Rock State University.
Though unable to use his right leg or arm normally, Mr. Kuszaj was still doing well with his long-term recovery when stricken Friday by a bacterial infection in his West Mifflin home. He was taken to Jefferson Regional Medical Center, where he died Sunday at age 45.
His life ended prematurely, but Mr. Kuszaj's spirit made a huge impact both on the children and adults who knew him before his aneurysm and those who only encountered him afterward, watching him regain verbal and physical skills through years of therapy with professionals and friends, though never able to reclaim them 100 percent.
"I never got the feeling that he was angry at anybody or felt he had been dealt a bad hand," said Richard Weisman, a Shadyside neurologist who treated and admired Mr. Kuszaj for the past decade.
"He made the best of it and tried to get the most enjoyment out of everything he did. He was like a magnet that way -- everyone was drawn to him."
Mr. Kuszaj grew up in West Mifflin, graduating from West Mifflin North High School in 1984 before majoring in education at Slippery Rock. He had a gift for talking animatedly to both friends and strangers, and those who were the strangers frequently became the friends.
First Published February 21, 2012 12:00 am
