OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
Rare fan offers continuing support for Gentry
Air Force serviceman from Ohio corresponds regularly
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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Like many Ohio State football fans, Heath Schneider wrote Tyson Gentry a letter of support after Gentry suffered a broken neck in an April scrimmage.
But unlike most fans, Schneider kept writing. Every week a letter arrived, for more than seven months now.
"I believed other people wouldn?t (continue)," Schneider said. "It?s not like he has the flu, where he?s over it in two or three days. Obviously, this is a longterm injury.
"I had this vision of the guy getting flooded with thousands of cards at first, and then a month or two into it, sitting with his family and no cards except the ones he got at the beginning.
"It just seemed like a nice thing to do."
Gentry certainly feels that way. The walk-on punter and receiver suffered a broken vertebra and had no lower-body movement and limited use of his arms. He uses a motorized wheelchair.
When he first spoke publicly in late July, Gentry mentioned the thousands of letters and cards of support he had received. But Schneider stands out.
"Oh yeah, he?s the main one that has consistently sent me letters the whole time," Gentry said. "The nicest thing about it is, it showed me it wasn?t a one-time thing, that he?s still thinking of me and praying for me."
Schneider, 35, is a native of Wellington, in northern Ohio, who has been in the Air Force for 15 years. He has served in Afghanistan and currently is stationed in North Carolina.
He said he writes Gentry about whatever is going on in his life at the time, avoiding the repetitiveness of "hope you?re feeling better."
For the past two seasons, Schneider has written a blog on an Internet Web site, and in one entry he mentioned he had won a contest for tickets to the Michigan game and would be in town Nov. 17.
Tyson?s mother, Gloria, read the blog and tracked down Schneider?s phone number in order to set up a meeting.
"From the outset, Heath?s cards and letters were very uplifting," Gloria Gentry said.
Schneider and a friend met with Tyson, his parents and his sister Ashley, who lives with Tyson and is his primary caretaker.
"It was great," Schneider said. "Oh my gosh, what a great family. We spent almost two hours together, and it felt like five minutes. I was so at ease.
"I was just so impressed by that family. One of the things that struck me most was Tyson is very at ease with his condition, he had a great outlook. The whole family does."
Gentry is finishing up a fallquarter class at Ohio State with the help of Ashley, who takes notes for him.
He has had a series of encouraging signs in recent months. He first wiggled his toes in October. He has put on 15 pounds, "and my overall health is better, that?s the main thing," he said.
Gloria said Tyson has regained some use of his wrists and fingers.
Tyson said the toe movement "was definitely great, to know that things are still trying to reconnect. I still want more."
As he waits for more, he can count on those weekly letters from Schneider.
"I wrote without any expectation of a reply, because I know he has a lot to deal with," Schneider said. "It meant a lot when they reached out to contact me."
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