An intoxicated driver nearly killed CHP officer Anthony Pedeferri a year ago. Now he’s getting into fighting shape to motivate others.
By Adam Foxman
Ventura County Star
VENTURA, Calif. — A year after an intoxicated driver slammed into Anthony Pedeferri while the California Highway Patrol officer was on duty north of Ventura, he maneuvered his wheelchair adeptly around his Camarillo home.
The crash nearly killed Pedeferri and left him paralyzed from the chest down. But as the first anniversary of the crash approached, his focus was on the present and future.
Pedeferri, 37, looked fit this week at his home. Aside from his wheelchair, the most visible signs of the crash were his right eye, which turns inward due to brain-stem damage, and a scar on his neck from recent surgery to his vocal cords.
Wearing a Livestrong T-shirt from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Pedeferri looks a bit like the famed cyclist and cancer survivor. Like Armstrong, Pedeferri was an athlete before circumstances beyond his control pulled him from competitive sports. An accomplished triathlete, Pedeferri competed in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, just two months before his injury. And like Armstrong, Pedeferri refuses to succumb to the challenges of his condition.
In fact, Pedeferri is starting a foundation to help other disabled athletes and planning to use his story to motivate others to overcome obstacles and live life to the fullest.
“He’s kind of laid the framework for myself and other people to follow,” Pedeferri said of Armstrong, his voice raspy due to a paralyzed vocal cord. “If I can just do a little microscopic version of what he’s done, I would be happy.”
Pedeferri was standing next to a small sport utility vehicle on the right shoulder of Highway 101 near Faria Beach on Dec. 19, 2007, when a pickup truck slammed into the SUV. The crash killed the SUV’s 21-year-old occupant, Andreas Parra of Los Angeles, and knocked the CHP motorcycle officer out of his boots. Pedeferri’s injuries included a broken neck, a severed spinal cord, broken and dislocated bones, a crushed chest, collapsed lungs and brain trauma.
Tests indicated the pickup’s driver, Jeremy White, 21, of Paso Robles, had ecstasy and a high concentration of marijuana in his blood. White pleaded guilty to felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and selling and transporting marijuana. He was sentenced in September to 15 years in prison.
Pedeferri wanted White to take responsibility for his actions and their consequences, but he was never angry at him, he said.
“I didn’t even consider that, because I knew the job I’d signed up for was dangerous,” he said. “Nor was I angry at myself, because I did everything right that day.”
Weeks spent on ventilator
Pedeferri spent days fighting for his life at Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura. He later spent weeks on a ventilator, had numerous procedures and battled infections.
After eight weeks at the Medical Center, he underwent intensive rehabilitation and therapy at Craig Hospital in Denver, which specializes in spine and brain-stem injuries.
When Pedeferri returned home in July, his doctor called his recovery amazing. Five months later, relatives say they are impressed by his continued progress.
“He’s doing very well,” said Pedeferri’s wife, Carrie.
When Pedeferri was in the hospital, Carrie didn’t know what to expect. “I honestly thought I would be taking care of him for the rest of our lives.”
Instead, Pedeferri is almost entirely independent now. Getting ready in the morning still takes double or triple the time it did before, but that’s a dramatic improvement from the two to three hours it took when he first came home from the hospital, he said.
He still struggles with speech, vision, bowel, bladder and mobility problems, but he is able to move about in his wheelchair under his own power. He drives a specially modified van and transports his daughters, Samantha, 10, and Hannah, 7, to and from school and other activities.
In addition to regular physical therapy, he exercises by pushing his wheelchair in place. He also recently ordered a hand-crank bicycle and hopes to one day return to participating in races.
Before the crash, Pedeferri’s life was divided between family, work and triathlon training. Now he can meet his daughters at school for lunch and join in other family activities like skiing, with adaptive equipment. Instead of traveling to see relatives in Washington just once a year, the family planned visits for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
“Life’s too short to wait for next year,” Carrie said.
Carrie said her husband’s attitude inspires her. “He went from being very active, from being a world-class athlete, to being confined to a wheelchair. A lot of people would expect his attitude to be bad or his spirits to be down, and he’s not.”
A positive outlook was part of his personality long before the crash, said his brother, Mark Pedeferri.
“One of the things our mom and dad had instilled was that nothing was impossible,” Mark said. “Going way back to the (hospital) ICU, every step, he said, ‘I’m not going to worry about it. It is what it is.’”
‘Maximize my potential’
When he started regaining awareness in the days after the crash, Pedeferri didn’t know how badly he was hurt, he said.
While no one told him he could be paralyzed, Pedeferri said, he began to sense it within a few weeks. At first, it didn’t seem to matter because he was simply worried about dying. As the weeks wore on, he became convinced he would survive, and he resigned himself to the possibility of living in a wheelchair.
“From that point on, I was thinking, ‘How was I going to get better and stronger and maximize my potential as a human being?’” he said. “I kind of deal with what’s right in front of me and what I can control.”
Throughout Pedeferri’s recovery, support poured in from CHP colleagues, friends and the community. In July, CHP Officer Shawna Davison estimated fundraisers for Pedeferri had netted at least $100,000.
The money helped shuttle family members to and from Pedeferri’s bedside in Ventura and Denver, and allowed him to purchase his hand-crank cycle. He plans on funneling part of the remaining funds to his foundation, he said.
Called Freedom on Wings of Sport, the foundation is intended to raise money to purchase equipment for people with spinal cord injuries who want to return to or begin participating in sports, he said. Equipment such as hand-crank cycles, rugby chairs and adaptive skis can cost thousands - and not be covered by insurance.
Pedeferri hopes the foundation will help more people with paralysis to get out of their homes and enjoy life, he said.
A 13-year veteran of the CHP currently on medical leave, he is considering a career as a motivational speaker.
Pedeferri became interested in it after he spoke at a July musical performance by actor Kevin Costner in Ventura. He has since told his story at events designed to encourage safe teen driving and prevent drunken driving.
“He has a message that can be very powerful,” said Richard Nuttall, a member of a small group of residents helping Pedeferri to build his foundation. “He’s focusing on what he can do, and not what he can’t do.”
Copyright 2008 Ventura County Star