Athlete rebounds after snowboarding injury

Mike Hackworth

(Updated: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 12:50 PM)

Yoder surprises everyone, returns to baseball

Football season was over and almost forgotten and basketball was a week away, so Yosemite High School senior Garrett Yoder and his friends headed off to Sierra Summit for a little snowboarding and some fun. It was December 13.

Yoder, who graduates in June, would be named all-league first team offense as a tight end and second team linebacker for the 2009 North Sequoia League.

With friends Alec Eaton and Zack Stewart in tow, the trio made three runs down the hill before lunch and Yoder and Eaton were almost halfway down the hill on their fourth run of the day.

"We had just crossed each other and I started to heel slide to a stop as Alec crossed behind me," Yoder said. "The next thing I felt was when he collided with me from behind and we started to tumble down the hill."

As the two bounded together down the slope, the edge of Eaton's board sliced across Yoder's left calf.

"When we stopped rolling I tried to stand up and had some problems," Yoder said. "I looked down and saw my pantleg was ripped open and I reached down and pulled it open to see if I was cut."

What Yoder saw was a near foot long gash through the calf muscle to the bone.

"That's when it started to bleed a lot," Yoder said. "Alec tried to hold the two sides together and we both tried to get others on the slope to get help."

Around 11:30 a.m. the ski patrol arrived and placed Yoder on a sled to move him down the hill to an awaiting ambulance.

His leg was wrapped tightly to keep the wound closed, but it continued to bleed.

"It only hurt when we hit rough spots on the hill, but I was starting to feel like I was going to pass out," Yoder said. "I just kept fighting to stay awake."

By noon, after medical personnel had bandaged the wound, Yoder was on his way to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Fresno. Meanwhile, his mother, Karen, had received a phone call explaining that her son had been in a snowboarding accident and was on his way to the hospital.

Garrett contacted his father by cellphone from the ambulance.

"He said, 'Dad I had an snowboard accident and have a couple of scratches on my leg, so they are taking me to the hospital," his father, Ken, said.

After arriving at Kaiser, emergency room doctors determined that he needed to be taken to Valley Regional Medical Center, the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the area. After nearly 12 hours, at 3:30 a.m., Yoder was finally taken into surgery.

"They never told us how many stitches they needed to put it back together because they used so many," Karen Yoder said.

On Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, the stitches came out.

In the meantime, Yoder continued his school work through the home/hospital program. "Mrs. Bartlett (Carolyn) really helped me keep up with my studies," Yoder said. "I even raised my grades and am working on a 4.0 GPA."

Two weeks after the splint came off, Yoder returned to school and was allowed to work out as much as he could tolerate.

"I did some stretches and different exercises," Yoder said.

In February, Yoder started to throw a baseball.

"I was amazed that he recovered so quickly," said Yosemite head baseball coach John McMillen.

"It felt OK," Yoder said. "I was just concerned that I would do something when I landed on my front foot."

It took a few more weeks and he was ready to rejoin the baseball team.

Last Thursday, Yoder pitched the seventh inning against McLane, throwing just 12 pitches and struck out the side.

"I wasn't sure whether I wanted to let him pitch or not," McMillen said. "But he has been cleared and was doing well warming up, so we let him throw. He did OK."

Yoder, who was a baseball first team all-league selection last year, was determined to pitch again soon and was given the pitching assignment in the second game on Saturday against Fresno High School.

"He got through the first inning, had some problems in the second, but settled down and went five innings, striking out seven for his first win of the season." McMillen said.

"My leg feels good and I feel good," Yoder said. "I am playing baseball and contributing to the team."