Kansas senior golfer Brad Davis finally is able to walk without the aid of a brace again after surviving an 11-foot fall from his balcony.
In perfect health one moment, strapped inside an ambulance in excruciating pain the next.
Brad Davis discovered last spring that the life of a 22-year-old college golf hero can change dramatically in the blink of an eye.
"In the ambulance I was like, 'There it goes,''' Davis, Kansas University's senior golfer from Newton, said, referring to a promising golf career jeopardized after he tumbled off his apartment balcony in a freak accident.
At 2:30 p.m., May 10, 1999 -- 13 days after birdieing five of the final six holes and helping Kansas to its first conference golf title in 50 years -- Davis stood on the balcony of his apartment on Monterey Way. He leaned on the bannister and flipped his car keys to his then-fiancee -- now wife -- Cari.
The railing gave way and the 6-foot-2 Davis descended -- hard.
"It was an 11-foot fall straight down on concrete. It seems like it took about an hour," Davis said last week before teeing it up in a practice round at Alvamar. He's played about 15 rounds of golf since the start of school in an amazing comeback from his mishap. "I was falling, seeing the ground come to me."
Exhibiting the balance of a cat -- he straightened his body to flip the bannister safely over Cari's head -- Davis landed on his flip-flop shoes, cracking his right heel in eight places. He then collapsed backward, the force of the impact fracturing the third lumbar in his back.
"If I landed on my head, I wouldn't be here. If I landed on my back, I'd be paralyzed," Davis said. "Landing on my feet, I figured, '11 feet, I can get up.' I tried to walk. After a step it was, 'Call the ambulance.'"
The good news was Davis didn't need back surgery. The bad news was he was forced to wear a back brace for eight weeks to repair the fracture. As for his right ankle, a plate and six screws were inserted to repair damage. A heel cup was prescribed for his badly bruised left ankle.
"I was pretty bad there a while. I didn't do much," Davis said. "At one point I went 17 days without a shower. I couldn't bear any weight at all until July 20."
Davis used a wheelchair for locomotion the rare times he left his parents' home in Newton.
"I went to the mall with my fiancee. It was funny to watch people react to somebody in a wheelchair. They look at you but really don't want to look at you. Being in a wheelchair made me realize a lot of people have it worse than me. My attitude has been pretty good throughout the whole thing."
Motivation to heal came in the form of a big date on the calendar -- his wedding to Cari on Aug. 7 in St. Louis.
"It was all planned. We couldn't reschedule," Davis said. "My goal was to make it through that day without wearing a brace. It was the first day I walked without a brace."
Another red-letter day was Aug. 27 -- his first trip to the golf course since the Big 12 meet.
"I played golf with my specialist. He was pretty amazed. He didn't think I'd play until the end of September," Davis said. "I didn't want to miss my last year."
He's scheduled to compete for KU this fall, receiving an exemption to ride in a cart during KU's first two meets, perhaps more.
"Some of the guys call me Casey," said Davis, referring to Casey Martin of the Nike Tour has received a special exemption to ride in PGA-sponsored events because of a leg injury.
"I don't really like that."
That's because his injuries are no laughing matter.
Davis still has a bone chip in his back and suffers from a stiff back when he wakes in the morning and before he goes to bed at night. The plate inserted in his right foot also is giving him problems, rubbing against his tendons and causing painful tendinitis.
"I'm hoping it (pain) will go away and maybe it'll come out in the spring," Davis said of the plate.
In the meantime he wears an air cast for support.
"My ankles can move up and down now, but as far as side to side movement, he (specialist) doesn't want me to step in a hole. If that happened now, it could put an end to it for a while."
Davis has shot a low round of 68 since school started. Never a long driver, he's hitting the ball well, needing only to improve his short game which takes a lot of practice time to perfect.
"I think he's been playing very well," KU coach Ross Randall said. "It has not been easy. When you're 22 years old and very athletic and all of a sudden can't do a lot ... I think he's handled it very well. He is one tough kid.
"My only concern is what will happen when he has to walk. It's going to be a test for him to play 36 holes."
Randall doesn't think he can obtain a cart exemption for Davis during meets in the spring season.
"The precedent is it will not be granted," Randall said. "We'll see what happens when that situation presents itself. As of now, I couldn't be more pleased with Brad's recovery. He's one special kid."
An Academic All -American after being valedictorian of his high school class, Davis is happy to be golfing and happy to be alive.
"I'm playing against the best golfers in the world after missing the summer, their peak time of the year," Davis said. "You get a little rusty. But I'm playing pretty well. I'm feeling more comfortable every day. And I am thankful I'm getting better. I'm not better yet. I'm getting better."
-- Gary Bedore's phone message number is 832-7186. His e-mail address is gbedore@ljworld.com.
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