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Crash victim sees bit of progress

Nick Bollea's pal John Graziano copes with a severe brain injury.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY, Times Staff Writer
Published December 14, 2007

John Graziano, with his mother, Debra, in November 2006. He was injured in August.
	[Graziano family (2006)]

Nearly four months after a car wreck broke the base of his skull, John Graziano has opened his eyes but still can't breathe without a machine, his mother said Thursday.

Graziano, 22, a Marine and Iraq war veteran, is semiconscious and able to make facial expressions and sounds. Therapists are working to help him breathe on his own.

The update is the first new information about Graziano's condition since court documents released in October said he sustained a head injury, was comatose and likely will need lifelong care.

"He will make eye contact with me," Debra Graziano said Thursday. "He'll be looking at my eyes the whole time I'm talking to him."

Graziano was the passenger in the Toyota Supra that Nick Bollea crashed into a palm tree in Clearwater. Bollea, 17, the son of wrestler Hulk Hogan, has been charged with a felony count of reckless driving with serious bodily injury.

Members of the Bollea family frequently call and visit, she said.

Last month, Graziano was moved from Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg to the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa.

The staff at Haley has been "unbelievable," and the occupational, speech and physical therapists are aggressively working with her son, she said.

"They are always looking for the best, always expecting the best," she said. "I love the attitude."

While John hasn't spoken, he is showing signs of responsiveness. He leaned away from his mom the other day when she tried to wipe his face.

Marine buddies brought him a CD of cadences and tease him about the holiday-themed blanket his mother draped over him.

"Marine, you should see yourself," Debra Graziano said they told him. "Not cool with the reindeer blanket."

John's room is decorated with Christmas lights and even has a cardboard fireplace where a stocking is hung.

John loves Christmas, and this year may be the family's most meaningful holiday ever, Debra Graziano said in an e-mail. The focus is less about the trappings of the holiday and more about God.

The family is trying to stay optimistic and encouraged by John's progress.

"The first year we're just not going to let ourselves fall apart," she said.

John's younger brother Michael, 19, took a semester off from St. Petersburg College but will return in January. He wants to become a pilot.

Debra Graziano said she has to force her newlywed daughter, Christin Carson, 24, to go home to Texas. Her new son-in-law is very supportive, she said.

Civic groups send gifts to the hospital every day, she said. "The community," she said, "really takes care of its own at Christmas."

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at tel-khoury@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4181.

[Last modified December 14, 2007, 01:04:33]