Wishing her a speedy recovery

Daily Pilot July 13

Re “Huntington Beach lifeguard hospitalized with spinal cord injury,” July 7:

Hello Elizabeth. Despite our age differences — you are 21 and I am pushing 75 — it seems we share a love of the beach and water polo. We also share serious injuries and hospitalizations.

When I was a junior in high school, I fractured three vertebrae after falling off a cliff in Santa Cruz. Back then, you had two choices after surfing. Walk a mile to the nearest stairs or climb up a cliff. I chose the latter. Halfway up, I fell about 40 feet. Luckily, I landed in a sitting position. Had I landed on my shoulder or head, I probably would have been paralyzed (or worse).

I spent two weeks flat on my back at Stanford Hospital. When I finally was allowed to stand, I needed a nurse under each arm to help me walk six steps to the bathroom. The next day I was released and sent home to recuperate.

Because we had a pool in our backyard, I swam every day for three months. When I returned to school in September, I was in the best shape of my life. So much so, I ended up as a first-team water polo all-star. The following year, I entered USC as a freshman, where one Trojan was an Olympic gold medal swimmer and another was an Olympic all-star water polo player.

I don’t know the extent of your injury, but from what I’ve read, you clearly are a fighter. Because we share common ground, let me offer this advice: Take it one day at a time. Tell yourself tomorrow will be better than today. If you do that, my guess is you’ll be back on the beach or playing water polo before you know it. And if not, call me. I’ll do everything I can to help you recover. Take good care.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach