[ HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Brandon Tatupu rejoined his team for practice this week as McKinley heads into the semifinals of the Chevron State Football Championship.
For 20 frightful minutes on the field at Roosevelt Stadium, football was the last thing on Brandon Tatupu's mind.
Brandon Tatupu has a different outlook on life
after he returned to the football field
from an injury to his spineBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comLaying motionless in the end zone with no feeling on the left side of his body, the McKinley lineman wondered what the rest of his life may hold.
"I was just shocked," said Tatupu, the Tigers' starting right guard. "I was scared, just about what would happen to me from now on, how life would be. I was just going paranoid.
"It's the scariest feeling in the world, I'll tell you right now. Not being able to move, man, it's scary."
But to the surprise of his parents, coaches and probably most of those who saw him driven out of the stadium in an ambulance during McKinley's game against Castle on Oct. 5, Tatupu's senior season has included a return to football.
Tatupu was back on the field for McKinley's 28-14 victory over Baldwin in the quarterfinals of the Chevron State Football Championship last week and will be in the starting lineup when the Tigers meet Castle again in a semifinal game at Aloha Stadium.
"I thought it was very inspirational that he could put a lot of personal issues aside to come back as a senior leader to finish out the season," McKinley coach David Tanuvasa said.
It appeared Tatupu's football days were over after suffering a spinal injury while leading running back Michael Vasconcellos into the end zone early in the fourth quarter of McKinley's 26-22 loss to Castle in their first meeting.
Tatupu experienced numbness on the left side of his body and stayed on the ground as trainers rushed to his side and gingerly turned him over.
After medical personnel cut away his jersey and pads, the 340-pounder was strapped to a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance and taken to Straub Hospital.
As scary as the scene was, the injury was not as severe as first feared. He was diagnosed with a bruise to his spine and began to regain movement later that night.
"Once I started feeling a tingling feeling on my left side I was just overwhelmed," Tatupu said. "I was really thankful. Plus my mom was there, all of the coaching staff was there, all of my friends were there supporting me and I just felt really good that I had regained my strength."
Although he was back on his feet in a matter of days, a return to football still seemed unlikely. Tatupu went through physical therapy to strengthen his neck and kept himself in shape by working out under the supervision of the team trainer Shaun Yoshimura. Over that span, he lost 21 pounds, weighing in at 319 last week.
The injury also forced Tatupu to rethink his priorities. While football was foremost in his mind growing up, improving academically and getting into college has become his primary goal.
"I always thought football would get me everywhere, but since this injury it really opened up my eyes more to the education side and how important it is," Tatupu said. "You have to work hard in school more than anything else. Without education and without school you won't go anywhere."
While he was recovering, Tatupu continued to attend practice and helped tutor Raphael Ieru, the sophomore who filled his place on the line.
It appeared the offensive line would get even thinner when Ieru suffered knee and ankle injuries in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs, but Tatupu was re-evaluated by his doctor last week and gained clearance to play against Baldwin in McKinley's first-ever state tournament appearance.
"He actually jumped for joy in the doctor's office," said Lorraine Tatupu, Brandon's mother. "As soon as the doctor said it was OK for him to go back, he literally jumped up and down in that room."
Although Brandon got the OK from his doctor, obtaining clearance from his mother was even more challenging.
"My mom didn't really want me to come back," he said. "But she knew this is what I loved and I really wanted to do this.
"She said it's not easy for a parent to let her kid go back to what he almost got paralyzed from, and I understand that. I felt pretty scared, too, but after that first hit in the game it was all good."
Lorraine Tatupu said as nerve wracking as it will be to watch Brandon play on Friday, not being able to go to Maui for last week's game was worse.
"I'm still afraid for him," she said. "I worry about him all the time and I guess that will never leave me."
An offshoot of the Tatupus' brush with disaster is a new relationship with the family of Castle linebacker Cory Daniel.
After Brandon was released from the hospital, Daniel's mother, Leina, sent a gift basket to the McKinley athletic department for the Tatupus. McKinley athletic director Neal Takamori got the families in touch with each other.
Lorraine Tatupu and Leina Daniel have yet to meet in person, but have become friends over the phone and the connection between the families has added significance to Friday's game beyond the state championship implications.
"It's a good thing that came out of something that could have been really devastating for us," Lorraine Tatupu said.
Brandon Tatupu and Cory Daniel figure to meet at some point during the game, although that exchange may be a bit less cordial. One of Tatupu's duties on Friday will be to block Daniel, the leader of a speedy Castle defense that gave the Tigers fits in their first meeting.
"I like playing Castle, they're really prepared and they're fast," Tatupu said. "Their speed is a big factor. They're a good example that size isn't everything in football."
Said Lorraine Tatupu: "That should be something. That'll be a Kodak moment when they meet on the field."
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