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Sports can sum up the best and the worst parts of life. I have long been a proponent of how sports, especially growing up, can give athletes unique perspectives on life, and help with maturity, as well as being better prepared in life.
This week those thoughts translate into two stories I have in the Pleasanton Weekly about 15-year-old sophomores at Foothill High School.
They are about two different students at Foothill who are headed in opposite emotional directions — one on an extreme high while the other is facing his life being in the crossroads following a horrific accident.
Luka Mijatovic is one of the top youth swimmers in the United States and could very well be staring at a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in 2028.
Aman Deshmukh is full of life as a high school sophomore who played sports and has been involved in his local Boy Scout troop. On March 6 while at track-and-field practice at Foothill working on the pole vault, he suffered a bad fall, severely injuring the C4 and C5 vertebrae in his cervical spine, leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Two students, the same age, from one school, both enjoying their lives, and now facing dramatic differences in the direction of their lives.
It’s a slap in the face of reality, showing how fragile life is.
Two stories I wrote over a four-day period that had my emotions all over the charts, one writing with joy and excitement about what one’s future may hold.
The other, tugging at all my emotions, often writing on the verge of tears, with my thoughts on overdrive of prayers and at the same time trying to send as many positive thoughts as possible to the family.
It is part of life no one wants to think about, but one that is always in the back of our minds.
My wife and I have seven kids and nine grandchildren and thoughts never leave our minds of concern for all 16 of them and their spouses/partners.
It’s part of being a parent and something we have told each of our kids when they have their first child — you will always carry these thoughts and concerns for the rest of your lives.
Enjoy life and embrace every day, as we all are at the mercy of what can happen in life.
I work at Harvest Park Middle School in Pleasanton and talk every day with the kids about living their lives and cherishing your friends and families every day.
You never know what the future holds, so always think about how your decision can affect all those around you. Obviously, your family but also don’t overlook your friends and what their lives may be like without you.
I graduated from Amador Valley in 1979 and that summer, one of my best friends died in an accident. For those of you that were in the area back then may remember Tim Monday.
He was the quarterback at Amador Valley, and we talked about going to the same college where he would play football and I would play soccer.
He stopped by my parents’ house one day that summer and asked if I wanted to go back to his work with him so he could finish up. I had some stuff to do so I told him I would meet him at his house in a couple of hours to hang out.
When I got there, the family had recently gotten that call that he had died at the rental yard where he worked. From there I had to go to his girlfriend’s house and tell her, then when the funeral took place, I delivered the eulogy.
It was a lot to process for an 18-year-old, but I know it helped me be a better person, and ultimately a better parent. My wife and I visit Tim’s grave in Livermore, bring seasonal flowers and do a little landscaping.
To this day I still wonder if I went back to work with him, things may have been different and maybe he’d still be alive.
In my years as a writer, I have had to write too many stories when a student suffers an accident or passes away, and without exception, they are absolutely my least favorite stories to write.
Last summer as we headed into football season, I had a story to write about Scott Baswell, a popular football coach at Livermore High passing away. I remember talking with some of the players and you could feel the pain they felt, as well as the confusion as to why it happened.
I write these stories to try and help people process what they are dealing with, be it students, family, friends and even those that, while they didn’t know the person, feel the pain.
If what I write helps one person process the tragedy, then it was worth fighting through the emotions of writing the story.
I wrote all this to say, even though we have lost so many over the years, when we get a case like Aman Deshmukh, who is alive and with enough prayers and hard work, maybe can get back to having use of his limbs and maybe, walk again someday.
It gives us the chance to come together as a community to help however we can. Please go to “Petition: Your signature will get me the care I need” to be able to find out more about what is going on or to help.
The family is dealing with an insurance company right now regarding Aman’s rehabilitation, and I am trying to help the family get the best possible care for their son.
I highly recommend you go pleasantonweekly.com and read my next Pleasanton Preps column so you can fully understand the situation. You can also read the upcoming cover story on Luka Mijatovic and his swimming prowess, so you get all directions of emotions.
It’s times like these I naturally reflect on life situations I have come across over the years. For every good one, there seems to be a bad one.
Here we have a chance to rally together around a young man that still has his life in front of him. Let’s not waste the chance.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation.
