Shannon Lord, the smile behind the catcher’s mask
Shannon Lord, Sussex Tech’s all-state senior catcher, will toss her mask and enthusiastically rock the world of any base runner creating a dust-up slide over home plate. An “Out!” call will elicit her trademark smile that will lighten up the darkest dugout.
Shannon, of Lewes, is the stud athlete. She wants to be a nurse or occupational therapist, but also has an artistic talent for cosmetology - the song “Everything is beautiful in its own way” seems to fit her personality and skill set.
And then on May 22, a Monday night, she was involved in an accident at an intersection. Shannon was a backseat passenger in a car with friends when they were T-boned. There was a serious impact followed by spinning. Her life and health were up for grabs. Sitting behind the driver, she ended up lying down holding the back of the passenger’s seat. Amazingly, the all-state catcher, who endured countless collisions from the down-low position, was fighting in real time for her life. Her strength and fitness level saved her from worse injury. The word “lucky” seems misplaced, but “it could have been worse” remains a hovering reality.
“Those morning workouts with coach Jim Durkin saved me and are helping me in my recovery,” Shannon said from Magee Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia.
According to her mother, Jill Kauffman Lord, a CT scan at Beebe the night of the accident revealed an incomplete spinal fracture at T11 and T12. Shannon was driven to Christiana by ambulance, as fog had grounded the helicopter. Surgery of the serious kind lasting five-and-a-half hours, with saws, and borrowed bone from her hip, and clamps, was performed at 8 a.m. the following morning, May 23, by Dr. J. Rush Fisher. “The surgery was successful,” Jill said.
On May 27, she was at Magee in Center City Philly, a place where magic happens, a place with the latest scientific technology, like ambling supported by a walker with an exoskeleton on your back teasing your nervous system into remembering its job. There are art and occupational therapies, and a full-sized car on the sixth floor to practice getting in and out of.
The spinal cord injury floor is home to a saga of mishaps over the years that resulted in serious injuries, but privacy prevails. Hidden away are stories of healthy people who “got hurt” in every way a human spine can suffer insult, from car accidents to gunshot wounds to people falling out of windows or just falling down in the garage.
Shannon played in the Ravens’ final regular-season softball game May 17, a 19-0 win over Seaford, as the team finished the regular season 15-3. She had three hits and five RBIs. In a 9-2 win over Dover May 9, Shannon had two hits including a three-run homer.
Sussex Tech beat Newark Charter school 3-0, May 24 in the first round of the state tournament. The battle cry was not “win one for Shannon,” but “win one with Shannon.” The Ravens lost the next game to Delaware Military Academy 2-0.
“I felt so bad I couldn’t be there to help them,” Shannon said.
Gary Lord, Shannon’s father, reflected on the accident: “It is the scariest and the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life. While Shannon was lying there in the hospital, the outpouring of love from the community and the softball community has just been amazing. Her amazing strength and upbeat outlook on the future is amazing. She has taught me so much through this whole thing. I couldn't be more proud of Shannon and her older sister Carley.”
Carley is a biochemistry major at Shepherd University. She plans to go to pharmacy school when she graduates. “God has a plan for everyone. Everything happens for a reason,” Carley said. “Shannon’s mental toughness and dedication to get better gave me the courage to not find this heartbreaking, but just a major bump in the road. Right now, I can't think about myself. She's my No. 1 priority. Keeping a positive energy is the most important, and that's been the biggest part of this entire journey!”
Sussex Tech had its high school graduation June 1. A seat was saved for Shannon, and a live feed sent to Magee. Shannon was in cap and gown on the first floor and so was Donna Troyer of Sussex Tech, there to present her diploma. The moment was captured on Shannon’s Facebook page via FacebookLive.
The crowd cheered at Sussex Tech and inside Magee Rehabilitation Center. Shannon stood up with assistance, and she killed everybody already crying with her smile.
That FacebookLive post has been viewed and/or shared 17,000 times. A celebration of inspiration, the smile behind the catcher’s mask.
Shannon posted June 6: “May 22 my entire life changed. As many of you know, I was in a car accident and was in the back seat without a seatbelt on, that led to me going to the emergency room. I was left not feeling my legs and not able to move either of them. Before surgery, I was able to just wiggle my toes on the right foot, now only two weeks after surgery, I am able to feel my entire body and move my right leg completely, and I now have movement in my hip on the left and my quad muscles are starting to fire! Every day I have had my small victories, but with each victory, you have your emotional moments. I have had great progress at Magee, and I owe that to all the support from everyone and all the encouragement I have been receiving. If I didn't have all you guys supporting me, I would not be so strong mentally and physically. So I am thanking everyone out there that has sent me messages or has just followed my story. You guys keep the spirits high and make me want to keep moving forward! But with my story, I want to send a message, that seat belts need to be worn, even if you are in the front seat or the back, because you never know what might happen. Also, to keep moving forward, because like a golf ball, the more dents you have, the farther you will go! #designtogofar #keeprowing.”
Shannon is scheduled to come home Saturday, June 24.
Shannon Lord on rehab and adversity
By Dave Frederick
Cape Gazette: A very real thing is belief you are going to get better and that you keep trying and working seems to be the path to recovery.
Shannon: If you don’t have dedication and just want to lie in bed, then you’re not going to get better. You have to put in the time and the effort to actually want to get better.
CG: Magee is a great place, but you’re in here and your life is out there, do you ever think “I’m ready to get out and back among my friends?”
Shannon: Absolutely.
CG: How do you keep from getting depressed? You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t get down a little.
Shannon: I have my moments. There was a big impact on my life. I had a big trauma, I got surgery, and I’m in a wheelchair, but those around me have kept me in good spirits, so I feel like I’m progressing faster.
CG: Sports talks about adversity, but that’s a game. You are facing a real-life adversity. How has sports helped you deal with it all?
Shannon: A lot of support from softball family, and in sports, you have moments of doubt and moments, “Are we going to win?” You just have to go to the next pitch, to the next inning and to the next game. Doing this is kind of the same thing, and hopefully my progress is going to work out.
CG: The community spotlight has found you. It's a referendum on who you are, and you’re not looking for it, but it happens. Are you overwhelmed? Can you even comprehend the depth of how this reaches out into the community? People think if you handle it well, everybody else handles it well.
Shannon: I was very surprised how many people are out there supporting me, and they actually feel better knowing I’m doing well. I know when I was lying in the ICU bed, people were concerned. “Is she going to get through this?” But when I’m wheeling around and joking with my therapists, it makes people feel like, “She’s OK,” and they feel better.
CG: Magee staff is so positive. How has that impacted you?
Shannon: My team is so supporting, like your biggest cheerleaders. I now want to change my career from nurse to occupational physical therapist and physical therapist. They are just so nice and so incredible.
CG: Behind the mask, it’s been described that there’s this “bitch face” just waiting for someone rounding third and heading for home trying to score.
Shannon, laughing: Yes, I’m a totally different person on and off the field, and you have to have that competitive streak. On the field a little different, but off the field best friends.
CG: It’s ironic that you would get hurt from the position you were in the car, like the position you were in when catching. What happened in the accident was gonna happen. You were lucky. It could have been worse, but you’re here.
Shannon: I’m lucky I’m here. I have a leg that doesn’t work, but I’m here.
CG: What are your summer plans?
Shannon: I was going to attend ECU, but now I will take a year off and focus on my rehab. I’ve never been in a wheelchair out in the real world, so I need to adjust to that. I’m really good at cosmetology and all that stuff, but it’s mostly been sports. Everybody is going to want to have their hair done.
