Click logo for original news story at NWI.comReprinted with permission from Al Hamnik, NWI.com
It was to be such a fun road trip, traveling with teammates from Los Angeles to Prescott, Ariz. for the 40-and-over ASA National Tournament.
Dave Blackburn was riding shotgun that night of Aug. 26, chatting with the driver while a buddy in the backseat played with his dog.
Dave Blackburn, continues to recover from an horrific car accident last August, and looks forward to his ISC Hall of Fame induction next month in Moline, IL. (click to enlarge)
That’s the last thing the 1978 T.F. North grad and son of fastpitch legend Ernie Blackburn remembers. Moments later, their car was struck by another vehicle on the interstate, forever changing Dave’s life.
A bear of a man, much like his dad, Dave was an imposing figure on the mound at 6-foot-3 and 270 pounds. His velocity made your ears pop. A foul tip was a moral victory.
The horrific crash tore him apart like tissue paper.
Blackburn smashed all his ribs on one side, shattered his sternum, broke his pelvis in half, broke both femurs in three places each, broke his wrist in three places, broke his pitching arm, severely bruised his heart and had two collapsed lungs.
Moments after he was pulled from the car, it “blew up like a fireball,” he said.
Blackburn spent eight months recovering in two Phoenix hospitals and a nursing home. He was in a medically-induced coma for 53 days, his medical bills exceeding $2.4 million.
His mother Charlotte passed away at age 78 but he missed her funeral while still in a coma.
Last Sunday, I received an email from Dave Blackburn, who is out of the rehab center and has moved into his own apartment in Santa Monica. He was anxiously awaiting induction into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame on Aug. 14 in Moline, Ill.
“I’m still not walking but I’m back to living on my own,” he said. “It’s nice to be back as a part of society,”
When I first reported on Blackburn’s near-death experience — his teammates and the dog all survived with lesser injuries — I received dozens of emails from region fans and friends who kept him in their prayers. He still has a long way to go, like being fitted with orthotic braces for his feet and lower legs.
The odds are against him ever walking on his own.
A pitching career that began in 1976 on the Hammond Civic Center fields alongside his dad is over, a dominating stretch highlighted by Dave’s three Hall of Fame inductions.
“It’s been a crazy year, as you could probably guess. It’s something you could never prepare for,” Blackburn said. “You end up being a member of a club you never wanted to be a member of.”
He’s alive and that’s all that matters.
“I was touch-and-go, living or dying every day, for about three weeks,” Dave said. “I count my blessings every day that I survived.
“The doctors told me that nine out of 10 people sitting in the seat I was sitting in probably wouldn’t have survived, but my physical stature allowed me to keep some of the pressure off me when the dashboard crushed me.”
Blackburn’s team eventually won that 40-and-over national championship and teammates later told him he was their sole inspiration. Surprised?
This column solely represents the writer’s opinion. Reach him at al.hamnik (at) nwi.com
Editor’s notes:
Dave Blackburn will be inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame on Sunday morning, August 14, 2011, the first day of the 2011 ISC World Tournament in Moline, Illinois. He is being honored for his service to the game of fastpitch, and pioneering work in bringing streaming audio and video broadcasts to men’s fastpitch. It is hard to believe it has been more than a decade since those inaugural audio broadcasts at the 2001 ISC World Tournament — a month before 911 to give it some historical perspective. I was fortunate enough to sit in on some test broadcasts that summer of 2001, on a windy day in the California desert. Dave showed me the ropes on streaming, and Ballpark Radio was born a couple of years later. I am pleased and honored to call him a friend.
Despite the accident, and the physical and mental challenges posed by his injuries, Dave continues his work as the Executive Producer of the ISC Streaming Video and Audio broadcasts, putting in a full day and evening just last Saturday, inspecting and testing the equipment to ensure things go smoothly in Moline in August. His passion for the game and the streaming media program remains high, as he looks forward to his pending induction as a member of the newest Hall of Fame class, a well deserved honor.
Dave was my teammate on both the 1985 and 1989 USA Maccabiah Fastpitch teams in Tel Aviv, Israel. Both teams won Gold Medals, the first for the U.S. in that sport, in those games. I pitched against the lesser teams, giving Dave time to recover between the games he pitched against Canada, our strongest competitor. As good as both U.S.A. squads were defensively and offensively, he was obviously the anchor on both of those teams and we don’t win either Gold Medal without him. Dave and I also played on a number of teams together in various Southern California fastpitch leagues. Even though we now live in different states, he’s been my friend for many years now and I do look forward to seeing him and his progress on my next trip back to SoCal. He deserves every accolade and honor coming his way.
Much love to you Dave.
SMT
DAVE , HAS BEEN A FRIEND OF MINE FOR YEARS ALONG WITH HIS FOLKS. I AM GOING TO MISS SEEING HIM PUT INTO ISC HALL. MY TRAVELS HAVE BEEN PUT ON HOLD AS MY WIFE IS ALMOST HOUSE BOUND BUT ACCTIVE. UMPIRE ROY STOUT
Dave was my teammate on both the 1985 and 1989 USA Maccabiah Fastpitch teams in Tel Aviv, Israel. Both teams won Gold Medals, the first for the U.S. in that sport, in those games. I pitched against the lesser teams, giving Dave time to recover between the games he pitched against Canada, our strongest competitor. As good as both U.S.A. squads were defensively and offensively, he was obviously the anchor on both of those teams and we don’t win either Gold Medal without him. Dave and I also played on a number of teams together in various Southern California fastpitch leagues. Even though we now live in different states, he’s been my friend for many years now and I do look forward to seeing him and his progress on my next trip back to SoCal. He deserves every accolade and honor coming his way.
Much love to you Dave.
SMT
DAVE , HAS BEEN A FRIEND OF MINE FOR YEARS ALONG WITH HIS FOLKS. I AM GOING TO MISS SEEING HIM PUT INTO ISC HALL. MY TRAVELS HAVE BEEN PUT ON HOLD AS MY WIFE IS ALMOST HOUSE BOUND BUT ACCTIVE. UMPIRE ROY STOUT