Demarest girls wretling coach Lauren Rotondella is five months removed from a car accident that led to some scary moments. On Saturday she was back at practice for the first time without the aid of a walker.
DEMAREST – Looking for a Christmas miracle? Here's one: Last Saturday, Lauren Rotondella showed up to practice without a walker. It's a bigger accomplishment than that simple sentence might suggest.
Rotondella is an accomplished martial artist, a judo purple belt, a competitive grappler and also an educator, so all was right with the world this past summer when she competed in a tournament in the morning and then headed out toward Kutztown University where she was going to coach two of her wrestlers. Rotondella was the head girls wrestling coach at Northern Valley/Demarest and she was into it.
She explains: "It was a stay-away camp, so I helped them get set up on the first day and then I went home to continue training. That morning I had trained judo and I was still in my gi. I drove two hours and I was 10 minutes away..."
Instead of pulling in to the parking lot unscathed in those next 10 minutes, Rotondella found herself in a life-and-death struggle.
"I was T-boned by a Jeep Wrangler on the driver's side door. He blew a stop sign," said Rotondella. "Upon impact I immediately went unconscious. I shattered my pelvis, broke my humerus, there is a nerve in my arm that was damaged and my wrist was paralyzed. My car spun off into a ditch, I had to be cut out of it, and then I was airlifted by helicopter to a trauma center in Allentown."
Rotondella's world had changed in an instant and nobody else in it even knew what had happened for a few frantic hours. There were two wrestlers without a coach and no information at an out-of-state venue and the whereabouts of Rotondella's cell phone was the least of her worries.
The phone chain went into overdrive, but to no avail.
Sua Jeong was one of the two wrestlers left in limbo.
"We were in the last day of the camp, we were expecting her and she didn't show up for a few hours. We were like, did she forget about us? We were kind of upset and wondering if she got the time wrong, but then it hit us. That would be so unlike her. We were in Pennsylvania and there is no way she would have forgot about us," said Jeong. "I called my mom to come and get us. I told her I thought something happened to Coach. We still didn't know anything and we waited for my mom. When she finally came she was with a police officer and she finally explained everything. We just started crying."
Meanwhile, back in Allentown, Rotondella was in the fight of her life.
Sua Jeong was one of the two wrestler expecting Rotondella's arrival at Kutztown University.
"I woke up in the hospital and I had no vision. I had no memory of why I was there," said Rotondella, whose thoughts turned right back to her responsibilities despite the pain. "They kept asking me who to call and all I could say was [Demarest head wrestling coach] Mike Rooney. "At that time I still didn't know if this happened while I was working, I didn't know if the girls might be hurt, too. I never got to coach them and, as I found out later, they were so worried. A mom had to come get them and an officer had to tell them what happened."
When Rooney was finally contacted, he immediately set into motion the seeds for a comeback. He contacted Rotondella's family, made sure the Demarest wrestling community was safe and informed and then passed the information on the greater Northern Valley community, which sprang into action.
So many have pitched in in so many ways. A GoFundMe Campaign with an original goal of $10,000 has now surpassed $26,000 and is still active.
Rotondella has felt the love from all sides. A Paramus High School and Montclair State University graduate, who started her professional and coaching career at Mahwah; she has a network that has really stepped up.
"I was blown away by the amount of support that I have received from the wrestling community, from the martial arts community, from my school community. I don't know what I would have done without that GoFundMe program," said Rotondella. "I have been out of work since the accident and it has been challenging and it is nice to know that I have so many people in my corner. You can get through anything with this kind of support system."
The wrestling program is in good shape and in good hands. Rooney has set the tone from the top and everyone else has followed suit. Shane Hurley, an assistant coach on the boys side, has assumed the role of girls head coach in the interim
"It wasn't just tragic news about a co-worker or a fellow coach, it was tragic news about a friend, a very close friend of mine. The whole community felt this accident," said Hurley. "I know how much this team means to her and how much this program means to her and I know how much work she has put in. Lauren has really laid a solid foundation for girls wrestling in Demarest and it is an awesome responsibility to continue that as she recovers."
Friday marked five months since the accident and the healing process has been slow, but steady. Rotondella spent the first 20 days after the accident in the trauma center. Then she spent 20 days at Kessler Institute in Saddle Brook and was confined to a wheelchair. Then it went from wheelchair to walker to then standing on her own two feet unaided for the first time at practice last Saturday morning.
There are still miles to go, especially to get all of the feeling back in her left wrist, but, hopefully, the worst is behind her. Her goal is to be back to her martial arts training within the year. Judging by how far she has come, it would be a fool's errand to bet against her.
"I remember the phone call like yesterday on July 26 when I received the unfortunate news about Lauren. To see how far she has come in only 5 months is remarkable. We could be having a much different conversation right now. Instead, it's a story about a person with an unbelievable amount of willpower that fought her way back from a very dark place," said Demarest athletic director Mike Oppido. "I believe in finding silver lining in every situation in life and in this case it's about a woman that had all the odds stacked against her and still comes and supports her kids at practices because she wants to teach them no matter how hard life hits you, This is what you do. How amazing is that?"
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