A Profile in Courage: Meet Laura Sullivan
After 13 operations, High School Softball Athlete
Just Won't Quit
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Her grit is rewarded with start on Senior Night
For several months, Jim and Chris Sullivan wondered whether their daughter would survive an extremely rare infection eating away at her right leg.
The possibility of amputation was sobering, especially considering that Laura Sullivan was a highly competitive softball and volleyball player at Hilliard Davidson.
Through the ordeal -- which included 13 operations, a 30-pound weight loss, a handful of setbacks and $1.5 million in hospital bills -- Laura nagged the small army of surgeons, specialists and therapists with the same question: "I asked them almost every day, 'Will I ever get to play softball again?' " she said. "No one ever gave me a straightforward answer, but I put together a plan and a goal in my mind to get back and play on Senior Night. It was something to look forward to, at least."
Last night, on Senior Night, coach Angelo Forte rewarded Sullivan's grit and dedication and, with clearance from her doctors, started her at first base. Davidson rallied for an 8-7 win over Westerville North. Sullivan's troubles, which began Aug. 30, stemmed from an abscess behind her left tonsil that actively seeded an anaerobic bacterium in her knee called fusobacterium. Finally detected after her fifth operation, it was only the 11th recorded case of fusobacterium leaving the throat area.
Problems with antibiotics and other medications posed additional problems, and subsequent leg operations left her with 48 inches of scars ranging from her hip to her ankle. "The doctors told us she has the knee of a 55-year-old," Chris Sullivan said.
Laura, a senior, missed three months of school and had to retake coursework. Nevertheless, she refused to give up softball. After her most recent knee surgery in early March, she attended every Davidson practice, conditioning session and game.
Her surprise appearance in yesterday's game was reminiscent of the tearjerker Rudy.
"I remember watching Laura come out for Senior Night in volleyball in a wheelchair and, doggone it, she has worked so hard I wanted to give her something to remember this softball season by," Forte said. "I can't describe what a great feeling it was to see her out there."
Forte originally planned to give Sullivan a token one-inning appearance, but she played into the fifth. A second team All-Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division left fielder in 2007, Sullivan was moved to first base because of her bulky knee brace and lack of mobility. The flex player batted in her spot.
"To finally get in there and play, it was just unreal," Sullivan said. "I had told coach all season of my plan, but I wasn't sure he was going to let me play until I saw my name on the lineup card before the game."
As determined as Sullivan is to play, she said she would reprise her role as scorekeeper, cheerleader and unofficial assistant coach without any quibbling. An honor student, she plans to major in architecture or engineering at Miami University in the fall. Softball is not in the immediate plans. Provided no setbacks occur, she still faces up to two more years of physical therapy.
"Forte knows I'll be begging him to play, but just getting this one opportunity to play this season is good enough for me," she said. "It's all been worth it now."
