Life has new meaning after tragedy

The phone rang on a cold winter night in Dec. 2003. Teofilo Ortiz’s stepfather, Mr. Burton, picked up his phone to hear the news that his step son was in a horrific accident on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College.

“It was the worst experience of my entire life,” said Ortiz. “I really have no memory of what happened in the crash, but when they found me I still had a C.D. in my hand.”

Ortiz is in his second year at Wesleyan but has been set back by the accident. Ortiz finds himself still taking freshman classes because the accident occurred right at the end of the first semester. He missed the entire second semester due to his rehabilitation.

As a vibrant young man, Ortiz enjoys life more now than he did before his accident. Ortiz has learned many values and keeps things closer to his heart now than before, including the cross around his neck.

“I believed in God before my accident, but I believe in him more now that he has spared my life,” said Ortiz.

Driving from VIII to VII, the passenger side door of the green 1993 Toyota Tacoma was smashed in to where you could touch the door from the drivers’ side. The tree that he wrapped the truck around still bears the scars from where the truck hit.

“I obey every traffic law now,” said Ortiz. “I try not to drive alone when I don’t have to, and if I’ve partied too hard, then I give my keys to someone that is sober.”

To his friends it is a miracle that he is still alive.

After going into the hospital on Dec. 15, Ortiz was on life support until Christmas Eve. Finally on Christmas Eve, his family was told that he had come out of his coma, but Ortiz was still unaware of his surroundings.

“I had tons of people at my bedside every day,” said Ortiz, “everyone from my parents to my friends at school. I had about 12 people there every day I was in the hospital.”

When he was admitted to the emergency room at Sentara General Norfolk Hospital, doctors quickly worked to save Ortiz’s life. He was diagnosed with a broken nose, broken jaw, injured shin and, most critically, traumatic brain injury. The frontal lobe of his brain had been severely damaged, and the doctors were not sure he was going to make it through the night, let alone into the future.

“My mom prayed every day to God that I would come out of my coma and live,” said Ortiz. “She told God that if I made it, she would go to church every Sunday for the rest of her life; and now she does.”

After being in the hospital for 34 days, he was released Jan. 18, only to find out that he had to go back to the hospital daily for the next three months for rehabilitation with three different therapists.

“I was at that hospital Monday thru Friday, 9-5,” said Ortiz. “I visited speech, physical, and occupational therapists.”

After the three months were up, he continued his rehab, visiting the therapists three times a week for two hours at a time.

Things that Ortiz had taken for granted before his accident he doesn’t take for granted now. Ordinary things make him happy.

“Family, faith, and food are some of the simplest things, yet every day I’m glad that they are in my life,” said Ortiz. “When I got home from the hospital, the first thing I had was a mug of hot chocolate. I have never tasted anything so good in my entire life.”

His friends are happy that he is alive. Most of them play on the men’s soccer team at Wesleyan, and they have given him the nickname “Kanye.” His friends name him that after the musical artist Kanye West who was in a car accident similar to Ortiz.

“I like the nickname,” he said. “I think it is very fitting to what has happened. You could be here one day and gone the next. Yet you don’t realize it until something like the accident happens to you.”

The cross which hangs around Teo’s neck hasn’t come off, except to shower, since he was in the hospital. It is important to him.

“God got me through this,” said Ortiz. “I thank him every day that I am alive and healthy.”

When he was in the hospital doing rehab, he was rebellious. He would call up friends to try and help him to get out of the hospital because he disliked it so much. The hospital had to strap him to the bed so he could not get away. He was even forced to wear a bracelet on him that would sound an alarm if he went out of a designated area.

“I hated the hospital,” said Ortiz. “All I wanted to do was get out of there and get on with my life.”

Ortiz is happy with rehabilitated life; he is back in school getting the education he fought so hard for in the hospital bed. Although his life has changed dramatically, you can still find Ortiz “getting down” with the best of them. Whether at a club or a party, he thinks differently when he decides to go home.

“Life is crazy. One minute you’re alive and partying, then the next you are fighting the worst fight of your life, just hoping and praying that God loves you and that he is on your side,” said Teo. “Life isn’t permanent. Live every day to your fullest. Oh yeah, and it helps that God is watching over you.”