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David Haskins has fought for his life since a flag football accident on New Year's Eve. But on Saturday, he went to the prom.
By STEVE LEE and JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 15, 2002
NEW PORT RICHEY -- The first time Jen Wilhite asked David Haskins to the prom, he lay in a coma.
The second time the Gulf senior asked about a month later, Haskins accepted with a "yeah, sure" from a Tampa General Hospital room.
"We had to decide if we could sneak him out or not," said Nicholle Bislik, a Gulf senior and family friend. "But he told Jen, 'I'm serious. I'm going."'
That Haskins could even respond was amazing. The former Gulf football player suffered a life-threatening brain injury while playing touch football with friends on New Year's Eve. He collapsed into a friend's arms.
"He's a miracle because (doctors) said way back that he'd never make it that far," said Haskins' mother, Yvonne.
"He's a fighter," added Gulf coach Keith Newton, recollecting Haskins as an overachieving 6-foot, 150-pound defensive back.
"He wasn't the most talented athlete, but David always worked at it. He wanted more each time he stepped on the field."
Saturday was another big step for the 19-year-old 2001 graduate, who is partially paralyzed on his left side and uses a wheelchair. He wanted nothing more than to attend his alma mater's prom at Heritage Springs Country Club in Trinity that night.
"I was surprised that she wanted me to go with her even though I'll be in a wheelchair," Haskins said Thursday from his hospital room. "Just going and seeing all my friends will be a good thing."
An overnight pass from the hospital for Saturday was another thing Haskins looked forward to. He has been returning to his family's New Port Richey home only on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 a.m. till 8 p.m., for the past three weeks.
When the big night out finally arrived Saturday, four couples -- David and Jen, Stacie Haskins and Mike LaRue, Nicholle Bislik and Nate Goad and Mike Childers and Jayde Bisaha -- arrived at 9 p.m. at the clubhouse.
Haskins became the center of attention, as well-wishers flocked to his side for a handshake or a hug with his right hand.
Soon they were on the dance floor, where Haskins greeted more well-wishers and swayed in his wheelchair while friends danced around him to the sounds of Ludacris. Some brought their cameras over to pose for pictures with him.
"It's going to bring tears to my eyes," said Ramiel Martinez, 19, one of Haskins' former football teammates. "I was hurt. The doctors said there was a slim chance he would make it back. I'm so glad he's here now."
After two hours on the dance floor, the party moved outside to the balcony, chased away by the heat and the sudden upswing in volume as a Blink-182 song played. Haskins has his jacket off and is trying to cool down.
"It feels great," he said. "It's great to see them all again, it's been awhile. I keep finding out who came to see me while I was in the ICU. It's not like I can remember them."
For Wilhite, it was the moment she had waited too long for.
"I'm having a great time," she said. "I was very, very excited about tonight. Now that it's here, I'm just enjoying it a lot."
But Haskins' respite from the hospital was a brief one. He had to be back at Tampa General by midnight.
"Or else this bad boy," he said, patting his wheelchair, "turns into a pumpkin."
But even Saturday's good times will pale in comparison to Thursday, when doctors hope to send Haskins home for good.
"That's supposed to be my kick-me-out date," Haskins said.
Haskins has fought for his life since an artery ruptured in his head on New Year's Eve. Since then, he has been in a coma, developed pneumonia, had a blood cot in his right leg and fluid in his lungs.
He has come around slowly, his speech gradually returning and control of his right side coming back while his left side improves almost daily.
"I've never quit on anything, and I'm not going to quit on this," Haskins said, recollecting a concussion he had while playing youth football.
"That was nothing like this," he said. "This is huge, but I'm going to pull through."
"He's David again," Mrs. Haskins said. "The real David came out about two weeks ago.
"He's joking around and picking on everybody like he always does."
Wilhite, who is among Haskins' numerous friends to gather at the family's house on weekends, concurred.
"He was always David," she said. "Even when he was in the hospital with tubes hooked up to him.
"But now, he's back to the old sarcastic, loving Dave; ready to crack jokes on you and everything."
Former Gulf classmate Chad Greatorex, who caught Haskins in his arms when he collapsed on New Year's Eve, is now a freshman at the University of Florida. However, Greatorex returns from Gainesville every weekend to spend time with his pal.
Last weekend, the buddies went to Hooters and Gulf View Square Mall.
"I figured I might get that left side moving," Greatorex reasoned for the Hooters visit.
"He tried," Haskins said with a laugh, adding that he has limited movement in his left leg and left arm.
On a serious note, Greatorex labeled his friend's recovery "a plain and simple miracle of God. Everybody's been praying."
Now that their son is expected to come home, Yvonne and her husband, David, can focus on returning to work. Yvonne used up vacation and sick time but is back working in customer service at Wal-Mart. Her husband, laid off from his job as an auto mechanic before Christmas, is back searching for work.
In the meantime, Greatorex organized a trust fund. Anyone interested in donating to the David Haskins Family Trust Fund may call the Bank of America.
Looking back on the ordeal just two days before the prom, Haskins took time to reflect.
"It's scary," he said. "It's really scary to think I was that close to dying. It really makes me appreciate life more."
And though he still teases his sister, 17-year-old Stacie, Haskins appreciates his family's support.
Staying together is so important to him, in fact, that he would not be going to the prom if Stacie were not attending.
Funny, Stacie feels the same way.
"I wasn't going unless he went," she said.