Ryan Lasko threads his left middle finger through a loop on his left sneaker.
asserted
Lasko → thread → sneaker
His face reddens as he finds the strength to slowly pull the leg across his body to the opposite side of a training table.
asserted
he → redden → table
He is spent.
asserted
He → spend → ?
Those legs that once powered Lasko to track down falling line drives as a top baseball prospect for the Athletics now have to be lifted by hand.
asserted
that → power → hand
He practices again and again with all the energy he can muster, mastering skills that will allow him to move from bed to wheelchair and back again.
asserted
him → practice → wheelchair
“That’s a day in the life right there,” the 24-year-old said.
asserted
old → ’ → life
“It’s very strenuous.”
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Months ago, Lasko was a promising outfielder on a path he hoped would one day make him a major leaguer — a 2023 second-round draft pick who had established himself in Double-A ball.
asserted
who → hop → ball
Baseball America described how he “gets to balls through sheer will and occasional disregard for his body as he crashes into the outfield wall or makes diving catches.”
asserted
he → describe → catches
Everything changed in an instant on June 30, on one hustle play he had made hundreds of times.
asserted
he → change → times
Lasko, playing center field for the A’s Midland team in a road game at Frisco, Texas, sprinted toward the ball as right fielder Devin Taylor did the same.
asserted
Taylor → play → same
Their heads crashed when both went diving trying to make the catch.
asserted
both → crash → catch
Taylor quickly got up, Lasko did not.
asserted
Lasko → get → ?
His terrified parents, Patti and James, and girlfriend, Alli Graff, were in the stands watching.
asserted
parents → watch → stands
The aftermath has been daunting
Lasko left on a stretcher.
Doctors soon found he had fractured the C6 and C7 vertebrae in his neck, paralyzing him.
asserted
he → leave → him
Lasko needed emergency surgery for spinal decompression and stabilization.
asserted
Lasko → need → decompression
The injury left Lasko a tetraplegic, meaning he lost motor or sensory function in all four limbs and his torso.
asserted
he → leave → limbs
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound athlete known for going all-out on the field spent more than two weeks in the hospital before being flown home to New Jersey, lying on a stretcher for 3 1/2 hours with his mom and Graff by his side.
asserted
athlete → know → side
Lasko has rewatched the collision, heartbroken his family had to see it.
asserted
family → rewatche → it
Still, he wouldn’t change a thing — “100 times out of 100,” he insists, he’d pursue that ball the very same way.
asserted
he → change → ball
“I think that’s the part that made it worse for me, because they saw it in person,” Lasko told The Associated Press in his first interview since the accident.
asserted
Lasko → think → accident
“Because I think everyone’s just used to me getting up, because I’ve thrown my body around on a baseball field and ran into walls and gotten right back up.
asserted
I → think → walls
”
“So I think that was a quick indicator to everyone that I wasn’t OK, because they’re so used to seeing me get up.”
asserted
me → think → everyone
For two months at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, Lasko performed hundreds of repetitions — such as reaching right hand under left knee to sit himself up — in order to accomplish functional tasks on his own.
asserted
Lasko → perform → own
Lasko has had to come to grips with the fact he must start from scratch relearning everything, while facing the reality that his life may never be the same.
uncertain
life → have → reality
“I kind of explained it a lot as like a death, that’s what it feels like to me,” he said.
asserted
he → explain → me
“So I feel like I’ve gone through the whole grieving process.
asserted
I → feel → process
Since I’ve gotten here I’m still kind of navigating that mentally, but I’m in a lot better spirits now, more so because I’ve kind of adjusted to this lifestyle more.”
asserted
I → get → lifestyle
“And I don’t really have a choice to do anything else, so I think that’s what keeps me going.”
asserted
what → think → me
Any feeling he gets in his legs or feet these days, Lasko calls “big wins.”
asserted
Lasko → get → legs
When he arrived at Kessler on July 16 and mentioned “small wins,” staff members challenged him to consider them major victories.
asserted
them → arrive → him
While encouraging, those tingles and twinges aren’t necessarily signs he will fully recover.
asserted
he → recover → ?
Outfield collisions with devastating results are rare in baseball, and the Kessler team isn’t accustomed to seeing top-tier athletes from any sport come through the doors.
asserted
athletes → accustom → doors
The facility is about 30 miles from where Lasko starred at Rutgers University before being drafted.
asserted
Lasko → star → University
Dr. Jeremiah Nieves, a physical medicine rehabilitation doctor with a subspecialty in spinal cord injury, has monitored Lasko each step of the way and believes he’s made large strides in a short period because of his sports background.
asserted
he → monitor → background
“He’s made tremendous progress.
asserted
He → make → progress
I have a ton of optimism for him but that has to be tempered with a little realism,” Nieves said.
asserted
Nieves → have → realism
“As we know he’s an elite athlete.
asserted
he → know → ?
That started him off in a different place compared to most folks. ...
asserted
That → start → folks
He’s continued to progress faster than most folks.
asserted
He → continue → folks
…and 66 more, not listed.
The Aporia
