For Player, Comeback of the Year

VENTURA —  Sitting on his living room couch Wednesday, Jeff Larson gently tossed a football a few feet in the air and grabbed it with both hands.

It was the catch of the season.

Larson, 18, a senior defensive end on the Buena High football team, is home, safe and as sound as can be expected 11 days after suffering a massive stroke that initially left him partially paralyzed.

“I wanted to come home long before they said I could,” said Larson, who had been at the UCLA stroke center since Oct. 5, the day after he collapsed while working at Golf N’ Stuff.

“Everything I’ve been through really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Doctors point to several reasons for his astonishing recovery, not the least of which are his youth and top physical condition.

The carotid artery in Larson’s neck was torn during a game against Newbury Park on Sept. 26, but at the time his only symptoms were headaches and a slightly sore neck. Over the next week, a blood clot formed near the tear, cutting off flow to the middle cerebral artery and causing the stroke.

Larson’s entire left side was paralyzed until doctors at UCLA increased his blood pressure and redirected flow to the area of his brain that wasn’t getting any blood.

“Right away he was lifting his arm, just from getting additional blood flow,” said Dr. Sidney Starkman, co-director of the UCLA stroke center. “This technology is cutting-edge. Five years ago, no question he would still be paralyzed.

“This was a team of doctors making this happen, and in this case the team extended all the way to Ventura.”

Starkman credits heads-up emergency care at the Ventura County Medical Center in the hours after Larson collapsed as crucial to his recovery. Any delay would have resulted in permanent brain damage.

Dr. Frank Gillingham, the attending physician in the emergency room, consulted with Starkman moments after Larson was admitted and administered Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), a blood-thinning medication normally used to break up clots in heart attack patients.

This was the first use of TPA at the county hospital to treat a stroke patient, Gillingham said.

“Deep inside I was thinking that if this guy’s artery is really blocked, he won’t do well,” Gillingham said. “I think giving him TPA made a difference. It’s impossible to be sure. But I would call his recovery somewhat of a miracle.”

Paul and Vicky Larson spent the days following their son’s collapse praying in the stroke center’s waiting room. Miracle recovery? They won’t dispute it.

“It hasn’t even been two weeks,” Paul Larson said. “It’s almost like a daze we went through. Where did all the days go?”

Jeff Larson, who was deluged by visits from teammates and friends Wednesday, might return to school as early as next week. His first assignment came over the weekend from a UCLA doctor, who tested Larson’s cognitive abilities by having him draw a map from Westwood to Ventura.

“I did it, so I guess that meant I could go,” Larson said.

He spent his first day home sorting through a tall stack of letters and cards from well-wishers, some from unlikely sources.

Students from Ventura High, Buena’s rival, signed a large sheet of cardboard. Included was a message from Ventura’s star linebacker, Joe Martinez, that read: “You’ll be in my prayers.”

Larson’s Buena teammates were thinking of him Friday night in their Channel League game against Oxnard, and they wore patches bearing his jersey number, 88, on their shoulders.

Despite a spirited fourth-quarter rally punctuated by shouts of “Do it for 88!” the Bulldogs couldn’t pull off an upset of the Yellowjackets, losing 25-22.

From his hospital bed, Larson received periodic updates from the mother of one of his teammates.

“I’m very proud of the job they tried to do,” he said. “The support I’ve gotten is overwhelming.”

Larson realizes his own football career is over. But although doctors told him he must stay calm to keep his blood pressure stable, he will seek permission to attend Buena’s game against San Marcos on Friday night.

“I want him there on the sidelines,” said Albert De La Rocha, a Buena player who was working at Golf N’ Stuff when Larson collapsed. “He’s been on our minds a lot.”