Like the football team that Dillon McKenzie plays for, family and friends of the young Tiger have banded together in the wake of a tragic swimming accident.
On Wednesday, father Mike McKenzie of Gardnerville reported this his son, a sophomore and junior varsity football player at Douglas High School, was recently moved out of intensive care and into the neurological area of Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
Dillon, 15, is recovering from a spinal cord injury and roughly half a dozen broken vertebrae.
"It's sounding like his spinal cord is more pinched than anything, but time will tell," McKenzie said. "He doesn't have any movement in his legs at this time, but he does have sensation. He can feel us touching him."
On July 7, Dillon was diving with some friends at Carson Valley Swim Center, after football practice, when he hit his head on the bottom of the pool. Instantly paralyzed, he was pulled out of the water by a lifeguard and then flown by helicopter to Renown. He later underwent two surgeries to fuse vertebrae in the front and back of his neck.
"It sounded like he had a seizure when he hit his head, and that kept the water out of his lungs," McKenzie said. "I wish I knew the name of the lifeguard who pulled him out."
McKenzie said his son is conscious and eating liquid food.
"It's a good sign," he said. " Doctors figure it will be at least 90 days before the swelling goes down in the spine and neck."
On Wednesday, the family was still trying to figure out where to place Dillon for rehabilitation. It doesn't help matters that Mike McKenzie was laid off in February and lost his health insurance. Fortunately, Dillon's adoptive mother, Megan McKenzie, is a nurse at Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare and was able to retroactively place Dillon on her insurance. Unfortunately, Renown is out of network.
"She's the only one working, but she makes too much for Medicaid," McKenzie said. "Fine, let the bills stack up and the out-of-network fees. It's one thing after another. We got him on insurance, but now we're waiting to see if Shriners or someone else will even take him because he's on insurance. We might have shot ourselves in the foot. It's very difficult."
Despite the complications of the healthcare industry, the McKenzie family knows there is one place they can count on for support: Carson Valley.
"Lance Hartzell, head JV coach at Douglas, came up and gave Dillon his jersey and a card signed by the players," McKenzie said. "He let Dillon be the first to pick his jersey number, and Dillon kept his number from last year - 66."
The coach also told Dillon that he was named team captain for the season and would be informed of all the team's activities.
McKenzie thanked not only residents for their support, but two nurses in Renown's intensive care unit who "were really great to him."
"Chris and Amy," he said. "Dillon really took to them."
A trust fund for Dillon has been set under Mike and Megan McKenzie's name at Greater Nevada Credit Union in Minden. All contributions will be used for his recovery.
Dillon's progress can be followed at www.caringbridge.org/visit/dillonmckenzie.
"Stay positive and keep telling the nurses what to do," uncle Rob McKenzie wrote in a message on the Web site. "You will be up and around in no time. I will see you again soon. I love and miss you."
As of Wednesday afternoon, Dillon's page had more than 1,500 visits and more than 90 guestbook entries.
n Scott Neuffer can be reached at sneuffer@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 217.
