Saturday, May 13, 2000

Young man hopes to walk again

---

Friends raising money to buy special brace

By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        FORT THOMAS — Brent Bertke was less than a mile from home last Nov. 13 when his car, and his life, took a wrong turn.

        Mr. Bertke's car slammed into a ditch, snapping two of his vertebrae and paralyzing him from the waist down.

Physical therapy is part of Brent Bertke's routine (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The accident put him in a wheelchair. Now, a specially designed brace could take him out of it.

        Friends and family of the 21-year-old Fort Thomas man are trying to raise as much as $50,000 this month to send Mr. Bertke to a rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles, where doctors have developed a brace that has enabled a few people with spinal cord injuries to begin walking.

        The brace, made by Dynamics Orthotics and Prosthetics Inc., attaches at the hip and runs down the legs. It doesn't restore feeling, just movement.

        “It's designed in such a way that the user is able to move their legs by creating movement in their upper torso,” said Brian Hopenstand, the clinic's office manager. “Basically, they are using their stomach muscles to move the brace, which allows some movement in the legs.”

        Missy Jenkins, one of the teens wounded in the spine in a 1997 shooting at Heath High School in Paducah, is taking therapy at the clinic and using the brace. She recently talked with Mr. Bertke about the experience.

        “I want to try it,” said Mr. Bertke, who is undergoing physical therapy at Drake Center in Hartwell. “I want to try and walk again.”

Brent Bertke

        The brace must be custom fitted and costs $12,000 to make. Four months of on-site therapy will bring the total to as much as $50,000.

        Mr. Bertke's family and friends have put together a May 29 all-day fund-raiser at Fort Thomas' Tower Park, with a walkathon, charity run, live entertainment, and door prizes, including short vacations in Florida and Tennessee.

        That buoys the young man who, four years ago, helped his Highlands High School football team win a state title.

        “It's been bad, especially at first,” Mr. Bertke said.

        “But your life has to go on. I still have my family and my friends. That's what really counts.” He's now a biology major at Northern Kentucky University.

        Six months ago, on the night of the accident, Mr. Bertke remembers feeling tired.

        He had become accustomed to a busy schedule. The 1997 Highlands graduate was a member of the National Honor Society and a starting guard on his school's 1996 undefeated state championship football team.

        Mr. Bertke was fatigued after attending classes all week and working part time at a lumber company. He decided to leave a dance in Erlanger early.

        “I was sleepy. That's about the last thing I remember before it happened,” he said.

        About a quarter mile from his Fort Thomas neighborhood, Mr. Bertke's Pontiac Firebird slammed into a deep ditch.

        “You hear about these things, and it's always so sad when it happens to anyone, particularly a young person,” said Mr. Bertke's mother, Donna. “But when it happens to your child it's just so hard to understand.”

        To sign up for the walk or run or to make a donation to Mr. Bertke's fund-raiser call 441-2696 or 441-6079.

       

       

---

Events draw big crowds
    Music Review
Diploma day a victory for many
Taft searches for tax solution
RAMSEY: Lesson in grace
Agency accuses former minister
Architects criticize ballpark design
Buying tobacco tough for teens
Falcons hatch brood - at last
Life springs anew at nature areas
Ballet Review
A.M. REPORT
Aim is to get kids on track
'Anything Goes' musical lures theater supporter
Around the Commonwealth
Candidate for Senate gets assist
Convention plan needs salesman
GET TO IT
Opponent for Lucas chosen
Pig Parade: The Piggest Show on Earth
Students charged with trespassing
What to save
Woman found dead in house by firefighters
Young man hopes to walk again
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book