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Student-athlete healing after bizarre accident
By RODNEY PAGE © St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Pat Venuti heard only a few words the caller was saying. Accident. Injured. Serious.
Venuti and her husband, Buddy, hopped the next plane. "I heard her name and then I heard them say "accident' and I thought "car accident,' " Pat Venuti said. "Then there was something about chest injuries and an injured spleen and I couldn't grasp what they were saying. It was like it was in slow motion. It didn't make sense to me." The accident was far more unusual than a car crash. Marissa had been hit by a track and field hammer, a 16-pound metal ball attached to a 3-foot chain that is heaved like a discus. Venuti, a junior at Elon College in Burlington, N.C., was at her sales and marketing teacher's house taping a school project on how to throw the hammer. Her teacher, Dr. Peter Farmer, also trains post-collegiate athletes. Venuti was standing 15 to 25 feet to the left of the hammer-thrower, playing with another hammer. She had just put down the hammer and looked up when the misguided throw struck her on her left side. The ball, traveling 30 to 40 mph, crushed three ribs, punctured a lung and tore her spleen in half. Venuti, a star soccer player at Lakewood High School who earned a scholarship to Elon, was suddenly fighting for her life. "It was certainly considered life-threatening," said Dr. James Wyatt, medical director of the trauma department at Cone Memorial Hospital and Venuti's doctor. "If it had been a blow to the head or in the spinal area, it could've led to some serious problems. It also helped that she was young and an athlete. It will take less time for her to heal." Venuti spent 11 days in the hospital. Pat Venuti stayed the entire time. Buddy Venuti had to return after a few days to his job at the post office. When Marissa, 21, finally left the hospital, she returned to the family home on 63rd Avenue S, where she is recuperating. "There were a lot of ifs," Marissa said. "If it had hit me in the chest, or if it had hit me in the head, I might be dead. I was wearing a down vest and a down jacket, and they say that provided some cushion. It was still life-threatening." Marissa plans to leave Tuesday to return to school. She will see a doctor at Bayfront on Monday and continue seeing Wyatt regularly in Greensboro. Venuti, who plans to finish her classes this semester despite the missed time, expects a full recovery, but she will be unable to participate in the soccer team's off-season workouts. Her hope is to start light jogging in about a month and then return to training in August. "I believe the spleen will heal well enough for her to play again," Wyatt said. "It will take time, but eventually she should fully recover." In her three years at Elon, Venuti has had two knee surgeries, one on each knee to repair cartilage damage. When she has been healthy, Venuti has shown the form that made her the Times Pinellas County Player of the Year in 1997. Away from the field, Venuti is a popular student. That was apparent when word spread about her accident. "The support I got was amazing," she said. "It seemed like the whole school knew about it and everyone was praying for me." Venuti plans to earn a degree in sports management next spring. Until then, she likely will stay away from track and field meets. "I'm feeling much better," Venuti said. "I can walk around. I can't run or do anything strenuous, but otherwise I feel fine." Pat Venuti has seen plenty of serious injuries in Bayfront's trauma center. Seeing her daughter injured was another thing. "It's a little different being on the other end of it," Pat Venuti said. "It was a very trying time."
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