"A Buffalo Miracle"
Updated September 27, 2007
Photo Courtesy of The Baltimore Ravens Copyright 2006
"John Hessler is going to go down in Colorado football history as the Comeback Kid,'' Buffaloes head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Once again, he rose to the occasion.''
Quote after the Colorado Texas game when the Buffs won 28 - 24.
Date of article: 10-27-1996
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This website has been created for John Hessler. Its purpose is to keep everyone updated on his recovery after the hit-and-run accident on Sunday, October 19, 2003.
Below you will find official updates on his condition.
Please continue to sign the online guestbook. John and his family check it often. Your thoughts and prayers are very important to us.
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But in his mind, he is hundreds of miles away, in Norman, Okla. It is Sept. 30, 1995, again, and he is in an infallible groove, throwing five touchdown passes in his first start for the University of Colorado, leading the Buffaloes to a 38-17 rout of No. 10 Oklahoma before 75,000 startled fans, then celebrating with teammates in a heap in the end zone.
It's all there on an aging ESPN videotape - past glories rushing in front of him like an old dream.
"I'll never forget that day. Everything seemed to go right for me," he said.
Nothing comes effortlessly anymore to Hessler. Twelve years later, he shuffles through long and repetitious days on a metal walker, struggling to find the self he lost in a hit-and-run accident that left him in a monthlong coma almost four years ago.
During a wrenching recovery that felt like one long, bad night, Hessler, 33, had to learn to stand, walk and maneuver his way through everyday life again. His cognitive skills gradually have returned, and today he lives with his younger brother, Jason, in a Brighton condominium filled with photos and mementos from his CU career.
He prepares his own meals, charms friends with his wisecracking wit and can tick off plays and arcane statistics from long-ago games.
But his short-term memory remains fuzzy. He writes notes to remind himself of routine tasks and friends know that what they discussed with Hessler the night before might be erased from his memory by morning - such as the Drew Barrymore character in 50 First Dates, one of his favorite movies.
"That's exactly my life," said Hessler, who eagerly awaits the CU-Oklahoma game Saturday. "If I have to meet someone, I have to write it down. If I have to tell someone something, I have to write it down."
Hessler, once a professional baseball and football prospect, is petrified of standing and walking without help - "I go into a big panic," he said - and shies from simple backyard games such as playing catch with his 9-year-old son, Devin.
"I could throw the ball 60 yards once," he said. "It's just not the same."
But his biggest burden is the depression and anxiety that are symptoms of severe brain injury. As his thinking gradually came back into focus, so did a maddening sense of unfairness - and of a missed fate.
"There is definitely a before and after in my life," he said. "I'm still looking for the after. That's what kills me. The weirdest thing is that there is nothing wrong with me personally. I can sit down with anyone and have a good conversation. But the depression is the hard part."
Added his mother, June Hessler: "He thinks he will never work again. I keep saying, 'You're going to be a taxpayer again, you're going to be a taxpayer again.' He has no choice. He has to start thinking that way or he's going to stay in the same rut. I just know it's going to evolve. I just know it. We're not giving up on him. It's just the negativism in him. He is angry; he is angry at what he lost."
Battled long odds
What lingers in the memory is how ordinary that autumn night seemed.
Hessler, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Vikan Middle School in Brighton and an assistant football coach for Regis High School at the time, was driving on Interstate 76 on Oct. 19, 2003, when a Chevrolet Blazer clipped his Honda Accord, sending it across a median and into the path of a pickup truck.
The driver and passenger of the Blazer fled and never were found. Hessler was slumped over and not breathing when a passer-by crawled through the wreckage and lifted Hessler's head to restore his air passage.
"He says he's angry with (the men who hit him)," June Hessler said. "I say, 'What are you going to do if you ever run into them on the street? You're not going to do anything. You can't live in the past.' "
The elements that dominated Hessler's life before the accident - football, family, his CU friends - consumed it afterward.
Emerging from a 33-day coma, Hessler called out football plays. Informed after fully regaining consciousness it was a Friday, he said, "I've got a football game tonight. I don't think I'm going to make it."
Before the accident, Hessler carried his Regis playbook with him everywhere; during his recovery, his family read it to him.
"He would have been a really good coach. I know he would have been," his mother said.
Added Hessler: "I think the kids enjoyed having me around. I hope I was nice. I think I was."
His family did everything it could to aid his recovery. The Hesslers were there when his weight plummeted to 143 pounds and the odds against his survival soared; when surgeons implanted a titanium plate in his skull; and when he entered a Boulder rehabilitation center to learn how to get himself ready for a day.
They fined him $5 every time he said "I can't" and made him write "I am going to get well" every morning. And they helped him through dark funks such as the one he drifted into on a recent summer night, when he and his mother talked in his living room, the air thick with ifs and what-ifs.
June: "Why don't you try? Are you afraid to fail? Everyone fails."
John: "I have failed."
June: "We've had this conversation many times."
John: "People have no idea how hard it is to let go of what I used to have."
June: "But how do you know you can't do something again?"
John: "Like what?"
Support from CU
"They've been through the ringer," said former Colorado coach Bill McCartney, who recruited Hessler in 1993, when he was an all-state quarterback and pitcher at Brighton High School. "I mean, really, every emotion known to man, they've been through. He's fought depression; he's fought really desperate feelings. When he has his down days, when he's struggling, it just tears his mother's heart out. But she's not going anywhere."
Hessler's former CU teammates and coaches also closed ranks. McCartney led a prayer session in the hospital and later counseled Hessler during difficult times.
Arriving from Seattle a week later was former CU coach Rick Neuheisel, the University of Washington's coach at the time and now a Baltimore Ravens assistant. He invited Hessler to join him for a preseason game each of the past two summers.
Broncos tackle Matt Lepsis, who spent the night at the hospital after the accident, keeps in regular contact with Hessler. Sports information director Dave Plati meets him for lunch a couple of times a month. And CU alumnus Gary Gisle introduced him to hippotherapy, a type of therapeutic horseback riding Hessler enthusiastically embraced.
"His CU friends have stuck with him," June Hessler said.
For more than two years, Hessler steadily appeared to be regaining his footing. In 2004, he made a special appearance at CU's homecoming game; in 2006, he served as an assistant baseball coach at Brighton and was training for a volunteer job at a correctional facility.
But his recovery started to stall. In September 2006, he moved into a rehabilitation center for a few months, then back in with his brother. Unable to work or drive, spending much of his time watching television, his frustration turned into misery.
"I don't even dream anymore," he said. "I mean, I haven't had a dream in years. At least I don't remember having any dreams."
'Definitely a people person'
After the accident, Jason moved from Fort Collins to Brighton to help John. The arrangement occasionally leads to moments of mutual exasperation as Jason discovered while overhearing John advise a Little League pitcher who'd had a bad outing.
"He was telling him, 'You need to ask the coach if you can pitch the next game. Get that taste out of your mouth,' " he said. "I'm hearing John say that and I think, 'John, you've got to do the same thing.' We can get him all the help in the world. But if he doesn't want to do it. . . . Who's to say if he's going to get better? We have no idea.
"There are a lot of unknowns. The hardest part is worrying: 'Will he get the willpower?' It's so difficult. But the one thing about John . . . is that people enjoy being around him. We go to get him a haircut and he's got everyone in there cracking up. He's definitely a people person."
Worn down from years of trauma and fear, the family reached out to the CU community. McCartney met with Hessler. McCartney's wife, Lyndi, counseled Hessler's mother.
"She's been my guardian angel through all of this," June Hessler said.
Neuheisel also encouraged Hessler, falling back into his role from a decade earlier. On the surface, it appeared Neuheisel and Hessler were at odds during his playing days, an image driven home in the 1997 Michigan game, when Neuheisel screamed at his senior quarterback on national TV.
"Behind closed doors, he'd turn my butt purple, man," Hessler said. "When he yelled at me, it wasn't a yell, it was a scream. But it fired me up, trust me. He's a great guy."
Neuheisel looked out for Hessler. In 1994, when the quarterback overslept and missed the walk-through on the morning of the Oklahoma game, Neuheisel didn't tell McCartney.
Beneath it all, though, Neuheisel wondered if Hessler possessed the gravity and focus to run the team, nicknaming him "Alfred E. Neuman" - a reference to the MAD Magazine cover boy.
But Hessler was all business when Koy Detmer went down with a knee injury during the first quarter against Texas A&M in 1995. He helped lead the Buffaloes to a 29-21 win and won the honor of Big Eight Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
A week later, he destroyed Oklahoma with his school-record passing performance, endearing himself to CU fans with his swagger and powerful arm.
Though Hessler's senior season two years later ended in disappointment, when the Buffaloes finished 5-6, he and Neuheisel kept in touch, talking as much as six times a months during summer 2006.
"I was trying to chew him out and at the same time tell him he's got a lot to live for and all that stuff," Neuheisel said. "And we were talking about football and it was obvious that he still had this huge passion for football. So I said, 'Why don't you come out and watch us play and I'll get you set up in the box. We're playing Koy Detmer's team in preseason and we'll surprise him.' He lit up like a Christmas tree."
For two days, Hessler joined the Ravens in team meetings, film sessions, meals.
"It was a sweet time," Hessler said.
But the best part was joining Neuheisel in the coaches' box.
"I'm giving our play-caller information. And John's sitting right behind me, tapping me on the shoulder, telling me what the free safety is doing," Neuheisel said. "So I said, 'You didn't know what the free safety did when you played, so why would you know now?' "
The conversation took a less jocular turn back at the Ravens team hotel.
"We ended up spending the night," Neuheisel said. "I told him, 'It's easy to say, "Poor me." But you can't stay inside the box. You have to look outside, at how fortunate you are. You're still alive. You were John Doe for six hours. You were in a coma for 30 some days. You have a son you're really proud of. I mean, you have things a lot of people would pay a lot of money for.' "
As the conversation wound down, Neuheisel made a promise to Hessler.
"I told him that if I got in position to hire him in some capacity, I'd be darn glad to do so. We're looking to having that chance someday," he said.
Nine months ago, Gisle persuaded Hessler to try hippotherapy, which uses the natural movements of a horse as a tool for physical and emotional therapy.
Although Hessler never had been on a horse, he quickly overcame his fears while at the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center in Longmont, guiding a big Thoroughbred through an obstacle-filled ring. Surrounded by friends, his face lifted to the sun, everything else seemed like background debris.
"I don't think John Hessler has ever had an enemy," Neuheisel said. "He was quick to laugh. He was quick to take the blame. He had a lot of humility. Everybody loved having him around. So in a time of need, it was easy to see that a lot of people would rally around him. I love that kid. He's a wonderful person. He's going to be a very, very productive citizen. He just needs to stay positive, and stay focused on all the good things that are still to come."
Season in the sun
Although John Hessler had thrown only 15 passes in mop-up duty during the first three games in 1995, he was forced to carry Colorado on his untested shoulders after Koy Detmer was injured. What he did is part of school legend.
• Replaces Detmer during the first quarter against No. 3 Texas A&M and runs for two touchdowns and throws for 177 yards and one touchdown in a 29-21 home win.
• Helps beat No. 10 Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., the next weekend with a school-record five touchdown passes in a 38-17 win.
• Ties his record with five touchdown passes during a 45-32 win at Oklahoma State.
• Throws for two touchdowns in a Cotton Bowl win against Oregon.
• Finishes ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 Conference in total offense (204.2 yards a game), 14th in NCAA Division I-A in quarterback rating and sets a school record with 20 touchdown passes.
latimerc@RockyMountainNews.com
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/ncaa/article/0,2777,DRMN_23932_5708504,00.html
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Kicking some asterisk
Posted September 26, 2007
Ran into former Buff quarterback John Hessler this week at the Dal Ward Center.
Hess continues to make an amazing recovery from his near-fatal car crash in 2003, when a hit-and-run driver caused an accident that left him in a coma for weeks. Every time I see Hess, he’s made strides. His progress is nothing short of remarkable.
And, the timing of bumping into him this week was perfect, given that the Buffs play Oklahoma on Saturday.
Avid Buff fans will remember that Hessler made his first start against the Sooners in 1995, replacing an injured Koy Detmer.
Before the game, then-OU coach Howard Schnellenberger grumbled that he wished Detmer were playing, saying he didn’t want any asterisk attached to the game just because the Buffs didn’t have their starting QB.
Hessler responded by throwing for 348 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-17 come-from-behind win.
Of course, newspapers in these parts the next day were more than happy to note that Hessler and the Buffs kicked Schnellenberger’s asterisk all over Norman.
“I still remember that,” Hessler said earlier this week, chortling at the thought. “I still have all those clippings in a scrapbook.”
It’s fun to remember games such as that.
But it’s inspiring to run into John Hessler, and watch as he continues to battle back from seemingly unbeatable odds.
The guy is tough.
Here’s to Hess.
http://dailycamera.com/blogs/out-bounds/2007/sep/26/hessler/
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From: John Hessler
May 25, 2007
2007 BLEED BLACK AND GOLD GOLF...
The Bleed Black and Gold Celebrity Golf Tournament on July 2 (8:00 a.m.) is the ultimate event for the CU football enthusiast! Sign up now for a day at Heritage Eagle Bend Golf Course where CU greats such as Coach Bill McCartney, Alfred Williams, Daniel Graham, Joel Klatt,If you are interested in one of the several sponsorship packages for this worthy event or would like to play, please contact Joe McCreary at 719/593-7770 or bbgfoundation@yahoo.com (you can also to register to play at this e-mail address).
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HESSLER HORSIN’ AROUND... The latest therapy on former CU quarterback John Hessler’s road to recovery has been... horseback riding. Really... the program at the
http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=921675
October 25, 2006
Update from Jolene Davis:
Hello everyone!
John has been living in a rehabilitation center up in northern
We also wanted to send a very special thank you to Rick & Janelle for the welcoming invitation extended to John. John flew to
Thanks to everyone for keeping John in your thoughts and prayers. God Bless…
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August 29, 2006
We received a collection of pictures from The Baltimore Ravens yesterday. A very special thank you to the Ravens for these pictures and for all they have done for John.
Click here to see a slide show of John's visit to Baltimore.
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August 21, 2006
Today is John's 32nd Birthday. He sounds great and had an awesome (just awesome) time in
Just in time for his birthday, CBS News 4 put together a wonderful web page featuring a great story about John's recent trip to
Click here to see it.
By
BALTIMORE — Former University of Colorado quarterback John Hessler, just under three years removed from an automobile accident that nearly took his life, was reunited here Thursday night with a couple of old teammates and his former quarterback mentor and head coach.
A National Football League preseason game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles served as the backdrop for a night that Hessler will never forget. The hometown Ravens won, 20-10, rallying from an early 10-point deficit, only one of the many memories created for Hessler on the night.
Hessler, who will turn 32 this Monday, flew Thursday from
Waiting on the other end to receive Hessler was the man who drew up that play, Rick Neuheisel, CU’s head coach between 1995-98 and Hessler’s quarterback coach in 1994 in the last year of Bill McCartney’s 13-year run as
Neuheisel conceived the entire trip two weeks ago while trying to find a way to help in Hessler’s recovery, as John admitted to him on one of their many phone calls that there are days “that are a struggle and I’m just not very motivated to do anything.”
At one point early this week, Hessler called Neuheisel and said he wasn’t going to come, that he didn’t want to be a burden. Neuheisel wouldn’t hear of it, cracked a private joke between the two and the trip was back on.
The pair have always been close, despite stories to the contrary from a television clip in a CU loss at
The reunions came on the sidelines in the pregame warm-ups, with one planned as a surprise. Jeremy Bloom, a rookie receiver with the Eagles, sprinted over to greet Hessler when he first spotted him. Next out was Raven tackle Justin Bannan, who lockered next to Hessler as a freshman in 1997. Other former Buffs Michael Lewis and Donald Strickland said hello, as both play in the secondary for the Eagles, as well as Ravens rookie tight end Quinn Sypniewski, who had an outstanding senior season in
“This was awesome,” Hessler said. “Flat-out awesome. I only cried once, and I can’t even remember why.
“I don’t know what to say, and people who know me know I always know what to say,” he joked. “Every time I turned around there was a Buff here and then a Buff there. It was almost like being in
The Ravens staff photographer snapped pictures. Former CU graduate assistant sports information director Patrick Gleason helped arrange a couple of impromptu interviews and coordinated photos back to
Eagle backup quarterback Koy Detmer spent four years along side of Hessler at CU, attending countless meetings with him as the two stood 1-2 on the depth chart heading into the 1995 season. When Detmer went down in the fourth game against Texas A&M, Hessler came in and rallied the Buffaloes to a 29-21 win over the No. 3 Aggies. He then started the next game at No. 10 Oklahoma, and after spotting the Sooners a 10-0 lead, threw a school record five touchdown passes as the Buffaloes decimated OU, 38-17. A star was born.
Detmer returned healthy the following season, and matched Hessler’s effort the previous year in leading the Buffs to a 10-2 record and a resounding bowl victory over a Pac-10 Conference school: Hessler led the Buffs to a 38-6 dismantling of Oregon in the Cotton Bowl while Detmer rallied CU from a 14-0 deficit to defeat Washington, 33-21, in the Holiday Bowl. Detmer was drafted by the Eagles the next April, and is now in his 10th season with the club.
Detmer had no idea Hessler was coming; Neuheisel walked over to Detmer after he took the field and pointed in John’s direction; Koy was shocked to see Hessler flashing his famous “Alfred E. Neumann” smile and trotted over to him, with the pair spending over 10 minutes talking and reminiscing prior to the kickoff.
“We almost immediately started talking about (Denver Bronco lineman) Matt Lepsis and how much money he’s making,” Hessler cracked.
“It was great to see him,” Detmer said after the game. “It’s probably been almost a year since I saw him last in
Even those with no direct association to
Neuheisel said the funniest moment of the night came when Hessler and Lewis recalled the 1993 brawl at Folsom Field between the Buffaloes and the Miami Hurricanes. Hessler told Lewis, “Hey, remember the brawl? I sucker-punched you.” Lewis laughed, as he didn’t buy it. “He didn’t believe me, but we can laugh about it now,” Hessler said.
Hessler, decked out in Ravens gear, spent the game next to Neuheisel in the coaches’ box, courtesy of head coach Brian Billick, whom he also met.
“I really enjoyed being with the coaches,” Hessler said. “It felt good — it took me back to my coaching days at Regis (High School) for Jim Ryan. I was up in the box calling plays.” He thought about calling a few Thursday, but that was one invitation that couldn’t be extended for obvious reasons.
On October 19, 2003, Hessler was basically left for dead off Interstate 76 in northeast Denver when struck by a hit-and-run driver from behind (the occupants of that vehicle were identified but never caught and are believed to have fled back to their native Mexico). His car crossed the median and was hit head on by a pickup truck; he suffered head and internal injuries and several broken bones. A Good Samaritan came to John’s aid until paramedics arrived, holding John’s head up so he could breathe. Hessler spent a month in a coma, and then six months in rehabilitation at
Though he may not always realize how many strides he has made in his recovery, those around certainly have. He can walk short distances, sometimes utilizes a walker or a wheelchair, and his memory seems to sharpen every day. Hessler might forget something just told to him, but then he’ll come right back and rattle off the outcome of a play from the 1997
“I’m doing all right, I have good people looking after me, doing good things for me,” Hessler said. “There are times when I get down, really, really down, and understandably so. Some days I am a train wreck. What really helps is that there are nice caring people like Rick or Coach Mac looking out for me.”
Hessler stayed with Neuheisel at the Raven’s team hotel Thursday night, and on Friday he was scheduled to eat with the Raven team, get a tour of the facilities and watch the game tape with the coaches before returning to Colorado.
At DIA, another former teammate, T.J. Cunningham, will be waiting to bring him home to
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I have added some recent news stories on John to the Media Coverage section of the website. Click here to see them.
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From June Hessler
July 31, 2006
It has been quite a while since I have wrote anything and I am sorry the family hasn't updated for a while, but this part of John's recovery has been the hardest we have gone through. It is testing every ounce of our fortitude.
John is basically thinking again and in thinking you remember what you were and what you had and what you have lost. He is not dealing well with his losses. He is angry and depressed. Who wouldn't be, I know I would be if I couldn't get in the car and go and basically be my independent self.
We have the appropriate therapies involved, but any pill or therapy will never make you do cart wheels down the street till you are ready to face your demon and conquer him. I tell John he needs to pray for the help to conquer and then he needs to pray for guidance in how he can help others in need. He has so much to give yet, but just can't see it.
We will never know why this happened. Webster has the words accident and mistake in the dictionary for a reason-they just happen. Are we angry at the person who hit John? You can be if you want to be, but angry, like drugs, just consumes your whole life if you let it. Not worth it in my way of seeing life and I am trying very hard to convience John of this.
So if you have a spare minute could you are say a little pray for John to accept what has happened to him and that he gets guidance in how he can use what has happened to him to help others.
Thank you all
Love
June
You can email John at hesslerj@excite.com
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June 7, 2006
The
The heart of a champion
Brighton Standard-Blade - CO,
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Update from Jolene
March 27, 2006
A couple weeks ago, we moved John back to his old stomping grounds,
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and God’s Speed!
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Update from Jolene
January 10, 2006
Hello all,
Sorry for the LONG delay with updates...John is doing great. He lives on his own Monday through Friday at a vocational rehab facility. He is responsible for getting himself ready each day, preparing his own meals, arriving to class & rehab on time...basic everyday stuff we at times take for granted and that he has long to do without the reminder of us. In relation to the 400 yard dash, he is at the 300 yard marker, and it's the next 100 yards that will be the most rewarding. Our ultimate goal and final prayer to be answered will be when John can live on his own without apprehension. The day when we can send mail without first putting a facility name, followed by; Attention John Hessler. We ask that you continue casting John in your prayers, as we proceed giving thanks for all we have been blessed with. Godspeed. Jolene
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Special Message from John Hessler:
October 19th 2005
To all:
I am just sitting here with my mother reading you alls messages to me. I want to say I very much appreciate the thoughts about me. We were just thinking about the last two years of my life. All I can say is "WOW." It has been literally a "blur." My family has been the greatest of all and I appreciate all they have done for me. I have put my mother to the ultimate test. But she loves me no matter what I put her through. And then there was Jason. All I can say is that I am really lucky to have him around. Very strong people they are. I just want everybody to know "I love them very much."
To Dad, Jolene, Kevin, Dylan, Shane, Josh, Tina,
I could have not done it without your encouragement and support. I have been on many wild trips in my life. From mountain tops to valleys.
When reading all my emails I know I am so blessed to have so many people care about me. For that I am so thankful for this.
It has been two years ago today. At this time of day that I started in the valley. But "Hey look at me now" I am heading to the peak and not stopping.
I now live in
I LOVE YOU ALL.
John
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May 12, 2005
From John Hessler
Hi to everyone and thanks for the continued support. Things have been going great since all the setbacks after the surgery. The swelling in my leg from the blood clots has gone down and can be controlled easier now. I've been walking with more confidence each day and just got a new walker so I am now walking up and down the street twice a day. Lionel B. with Channel 7 is going to air a piece about me tonight at 10. And Fox news will have something on Friday night with Ron Zappolo. Things are headed in the right direction with all the setbacks behind me. Thanks again to everyone for the support.
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April 7, 2005
From Jolene Davis:
Just a fun story I wanted to share with everyone...Like clockwork John knows when it is 8:30pm and it is lights out for him by 9:00pm. Tuesday evening was the same scenario. I've gotten involved in a show that is on from 8-9, I told John at commercial I would help him up the stairs to bed. I thought something was funny because John is never quiet when he is tired and wants to go to bed. Kevin came up from downstairs with Devin and Dylan and excitedly asks me "Do you know where your brother is"? I hurried to see what was going on along with Devin to find John had walked up our long spiral staircase by himself!!! He was on the third step from the top when we spotted him. Needless to say there was more cheering going on during that moment than when the other 'John' was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
We love you....
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March 23, 2005
From June Hessler
Hi everyone,
Everything is going well as far as recovery from his surgery. He has good range of motion in his leg and have Physical Therapy working on a contracture that developed from his walking with is leg out for so long.
He can finally lay on his side to sleep something that was not done for over a year.
The exciting part is we are going to use acupuncture to get his "meridans" to connect again. I am very excited to try this and so is John. We had our first session yesterday and it went very well.
As far as the rest of us we are hanging in there. We have learned a 'little about a lot medically, legally etc. Let's put it this way-it will be sooooo good to put this all in our rear view mirror.
Thank you all again for everything.
Love to all
June
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February 26, 2005
From June & Keith Hessler
We had a little set back after the surgery. John developed blood clots in his left leg, so had to go back on Coumadin(blood thinner), but after 2 weeks he is starting to walk again, and the swelling in the leg is down. He has to still wear those sexy white socks, so told him we will go to Victoria Secret and get him a sexy garter belt????? It just set us back a little and he is determined to walk again on his own and get on with his life. One thing he has not lost in this all is his sense of humor and I am so grateful for that.
Our goals got a little side tracked, but has not discouraged us.
Thank you all again for your concern and words of encouragement.
Love
June
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February 8, 2005
From June & Keith Hessler
Hi Everyone-
Will do a update on John and how well he is doing.
The surgery to release the leg joint from the hip was a total success. He now has range of motion in the left leg. He lays on his side again, somthing he has not been able to do for a year and 4 months.
Our biggest challenge now is to get the muscles of his left leg strengthened again. He had walked with the left leg at an angle for so long that the muscles have to be retrained and strengthened.
Jason is being relentless in his therapy sessions and wins. Those of you who know John, know he needs the last word and usually does, but then does what Jason wants him to do.
This ordeal has made us appreciate the little things in life.
Wishing you all a good day.
Love
June
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January 27, 2005
From Jolene Davis
So far...so good! John's surgery is complete and he is doing great. Even after only one day the improvements are remarkable. The range of motion in that hip has increased greatly, movements that used to cause him pain now feel good. Coming out of the surgery there was a little scare. People with brain injuries often times have difficulty waking from all the anasetics and yesterday John proved that to be true. The recovery nurse had a tough time calming him down, so she had to bring in the re-enforcements, mom and me!
All & all he is doing great and again we thank you all for your continued prayers!
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January 24, 2005
From Jolene Davis
Hello All,
Just wanted to give you a quick update on John and his progress. In the next couple of days, John will be going back to the operating room to have the extra bone in his hip that developed while he was in his a coma removed and your prayers are encouraged. The Doctor will be going in and chipping away what he can to give John more range of motion. The outlook is very positive but John will need to take it easy at least six weeks.
We will update the website as soon as John is safely out and asks for his
Thanks again to all of you that stay posted to this website. Please continue your prayers and encouraging thoughts!
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December 22, 2004
From John Hessler
This is John and I'm doing wonderful. I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to every one. Things are going great for me. I walk with a walker and when I'm feeling dangerous I pick it up and walk. Everyday I'm getting better. I have so many people to Thank. I don't even know where to begin other than to Thank You Everyone. I hope everyone has an excellent Christmas.
I Love You All.
Love, John
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KCNC - News 4 Investigates
by News 4 investigator Brian Maass
Dec 1, 2004 4:42 pm
A News 4 investigation obtained the pictures of Ricardo Anchondo Gomez and broadcast them Wednesday night.
"He's the only person that could shed light on this investigation," said Kelly Pickering, the lead investigator for the Colorado State Patrol on the accident.
Hessler, a quarterback at CU from 1993 to 1997, was hurt Oct. 19, 2003, as he was driving eastbound on Interstate 76 in
The accident left Hessler with severe head injuries and a collapsed lung. He was in a coma for 33 days. He's now living at his family's home in
"The guy did an awful crime and he ran; that's cowardly," said Hessler. "It wasn't how I was brought up at all. He just left me there to die. That's the saddest thing about the whole thing."
The driver of the Blazer and three passengers ran from the scene and have not been seen or heard from since then. The Blazer was owned by Gomez. However, Gomez abandoned his apartment, his job and a pending home purchase after the accident and vanished. CSP investigators suspect the 25-year-old man was in the
"This was kind of rare that this would happen, that they would up and leave everything they own without going back," said
"It's all circumstantial, but it leads a person to believe there's more going on,"
Two months after the accident,
"I did some dumpster diving and it was quite interesting,"
"Every case is different, and a person has to use ingenuity and imagination,"
One of the pictures of the Blazer owner was placed in a photo lineup on Tuesday and then released to News 4. The State Patrol hopes someone might recognize Gomez and provide information about where he is.
Two witnesses to the crash viewed the photo lineup but were unable to pick Gomez out as being at the scene of the accident.
"It's hard to remember somebody you saw for a couple minutes more than a year ago," witness Laura Shoemaker said after viewing the pictures. "I want justice to be done. They really messed up (Hessler's) life."
News 4 learned that a Ford Tempo also owned by Gomez was stopped twice in
The first stop was Dec. 5, 2003, and the second stop was March 13, 2004. The driver identified himself as Jose Jiminez in both incidents and indicated he was living at a motel.
Authorities have not been able to locate that driver.
This week the CSP faxed a letter to the Mexican Consul in