TAMPA - Having grown up alongside his disabled older brother Kyle, seventh-grader Kent Romano developed a compassion one can only have when living as someone else's arms and legs.
"If they were given two lollipops, Kent would unwrap Kyle's first and give him the red one," said Kris Romano, the boys' mother. "It's wonderful to have the two to support each other."
On Thursday, Kyle Romano was honored as a John Lynch Foundation Disabled Athlete Star of the Year with his brother standing by as John and Linda Lynch read letters his family had written about him. The Plant freshman nearly died as a 14-month-old when he contracted meningococcemia, a bacterial infection that spread within 12 hours and caused him to lose all of his limbs.
It didn't stop him from later learning how to play his favorite sports, including baseball, football, hockey, swimming and skateboarding.
"He sees himself as a normal kid," John Lynch said. "We asked him what his toughest challenge was and he said, "Probably my homework.' ... That's the way he is. (The family) has raised him in a way in which they have treated him as a normal kid, which he is, and you can see the results of that."
The Lynches, as part of their "Salute the Stars" luncheon, also awarded Disabled Athlete Star of the Year awards to Kenjy Asin (Plant), Ryan Rupp (Riverview) and Kyle Mattina (East Lake), who all play sports despite their disabilities.
The Star of the Year winners, who were selected based on their grades, sports participation and community service, also were named. They are: Meredith Moukawsher (Tarpon Springs Middle), a straight-A student and eight-year Bayview Nursing Home volunteer; Johnathon Dupree (Tomlin Middle), who set the school record in the 220-yard dash and scored well on the FCAT; Sara Hall (Plant City High), a class salutatorian and track, soccer and cross-country athlete; and Jarod Dicks (Plant City High), a swimmer and tennis player with a 5.32 grade-point average.
Carrollwood Day School teacher and coach Bitha Wodrich and Armwood baseball coach Joey Fernandez also were honored. Northeast High's Zahirina Natova, Palm Harbor University's Edward Chapman, Plant City's Carolina Young and East Bay's Paul Spisak each received a $5,000 scholarship.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and guest speaker Jon Gruden urged the winners to take their accomplishments to the next level.
"What are you going to do with it?" Gruden asked. "What are you going to do with your next responsibility?"
