Round 2: Turk trains for fight of his life
ERIC HANG
Erol Turk returned to campus in January after being paralyzed from the waist down last spring. He recently returned to school and currently proctors a study hall and helps out in science classrooms. On Feb. 14, he spoke at a Unity Council forum about his life since his motorcycle accident.
By Dani Yan
E
rol Turk holds still as his body is adjusted toward an upright position. His feet strapped to the base of a metal frame as cushions support him, Turk cannot feel his legs, but they are almost straight for the first time in months. His body is being conditioned to sustain a vertical alignment using the standing frame. He is unable to stand on his own — for now. In the nine months since a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, Turk has been steadily recovering. For weeks, he needed medication to use the standing frame without passing out. Now, he spends hours in physical therapy without any drugs to stabilize his blood pressure. He returned to SJS in late January and works on campus two days a week. Turk has undertaken his rehabilitation with the same intensity he brought to teaching and kickboxing — he has regained some sensation in his torso as well as strength and movement in his arms — but he is anxious to progress faster, even if his doctors suggest otherwise. “The most challenging thing has been getting my therapists as motivated as I am,” Turk said. “Some of them want to be more cautious, but I always want them to just push me harder because I’m in a hurry to get better.” Being surrounded by other patients struggling through therapy helped Turk put his circumstances into perspective. His positivity comes from a revitalized appreciation for life. “I didn’t have to live through that accident, so every day since then is a bonus. I get to see my kids, I get to come to SJS, I get to see all the people I care about,” he said. “How can I be mad at the world when I have that going on?” Members of the SJS community often visited Turk during his lengthy hospital stay. Many were struck by his optimism and persistence. “He has made incredible progress. And frankly, it’s all been because of his attitude, which has never been negative,” Director of Spiritual Life Ned Mulligan said. “I was worried he would get depressed, but his amazing attitude never wavered.”
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Turk’s students remember a teacher who was active in and out of the classroom. While he will likely never break cinder blocks with his bare hands or step back in the ring as an amateur kickboxer again, his students insist that his fighting spirit has not changed. “When I visited Mr. Turk, he was always trying to take steps towards recovery, whether mustering up the energy to chat with us after a physical therapy session or working on maintaining posture while talking to us,” senior Gracie Jing said. “He seemed genuinely excited to see us despite his situation. He cracked jokes, and it felt like we were in class and nothing had changed.” Turk says his students and colleagues have prompted him to work harder and stay hopeful. “It’s really hard to think I can fail with all the support holding me up,” he said. “I can’t go anywhere without feeling that love.” While Turk has maintained his confidence, his recovery has not been without its hardships. Once he woke up in the middle of the night needing to get up, only to find his home health worker had left the house without telling him. “I felt very helpless and a prisoner of my condition, which I hated,” he said. Turk made the resolution to do as much as possible without assistance. In November, he moved from his townhouse to an apartment. “Instead of being trapped on the first floor of a three-story townhome, I could get to the kitchen, get to the restroom, brush my own teeth, just do those types of things, which make me feel more independent,” he said. “That has been supremely helpful for me mentally.” Mulligan, who visited Turk every day in the spring after the accident, is excited to have Turk back on campus. “His entire focus from the first time we talked about it, just a few days after the accident, was to get back to St. John’s,” Mulligan said. “My hope for him is that he figures out what’s best for him without sacrificing his health getting there. He really wants to be here — being with students is invigorating for him.” Headmaster Mark Desjardins officially welcomed Turk back during the All-School Chapel on Feb. 1 when he pre-
It’s really hard to think I can fail with all the support holding me up. I can’t go anywhere without feeling that love. -Mr. Erol Turk
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sented Turk with the T.C. Evans Award for spirited devotion to the school. The entire gym stood in ovation. “I was totally blown away. I didn’t think the support that I was getting from the St. John’s community could be greater than it has been for the past nine months,” Turk said. “But I was definitely wrong.” Turk hopes to return to teaching as soon as possible, but his role is limited for now. He proctors a study hall and helps out in the physics classrooms. “We’re trying to figure out what I can and can’t do, with an eye towards teaching next year. We can work out all the kinks and figure out what’s needed from both sides in order for me to be successful in the classroom again,” he said. “The school has been so good to me that whatever they ask me to teach, I’d be happy to do it.” On Feb. 14, Turk spoke at a Unity Council forum, where he detailed his experiences since the accident and answered questions from students. “I try to stay positive because there’s not really another option,” he said. “I see everything I do well or do better as a victory, and I try to celebrate it.” His presentation was punctuated by anecdotes and jokes, such as when he told the juniors in attendance, “If you can’t find parts for your Rube Goldberg project, they’re probably in my neck.” Students, some of whom had not seen Turk since the accident, were moved by his message. “It was powerful,” junior Lethan Hampton said. “I appreciated his perspective and hearing how he stays so grateful even in such a difficult situation.” Turk wants to walk — he made that his foremost goal when he found out his spinal cord was fully intact. A few months ago he dreamed about walking across the Great Lawn, but even if he never stands again, Turk intends to find solace in his effort. “If circumstances dictate that I can’t walk, I want to know that I can live with the situation because I gave everything I possibly could to get there,” he said. “To know I didn’t fail due to laziness or just feeling bad about myself or hating life.” Turk has competed in dozens of kickboxing matches in his life, but he is proudest of this fight. “There’s a saying that you don’t really know who you are as a person until you’re challenged,” Turk said. “I’m happy to say that the person that I aspired to be before the accident is actually the person that I am now.”
MARCH 2, 2018