
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 21, 1990                   TAG: 9005210346
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI                                LENGTH: Medium

DRAG RACER RETURNS TO MIAMI FOR THERAPY

World-record drag racer Darrell Gwynn returned Sunday to his hometown of Miami, where he'll undergo therapy that he hopes will heal paralyzing injuries suffered in a crash last month.

For Gwynn, improvement that was once gauged by miles per hour will be measured by a slight shrug or a wiggled finger. The fiery crash April 15 at 240 mph in Bedfordshire, England, forced the amputation of half of his left arm and paralyzed him from the mid-chest down.

On Thursday, doctors at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England, where Gwynn has been treated for the last month, fitted him with a stabilized halo to keep his head and neck immobile for the flight back to Miami. Family members accompanied him on the trip.

Gwynn's case will be handled by Dr. Barth Green, one of the driving forces behind the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and the expert who treated Marc Buoniconti after he was paralyzed while playing football for The Citadel in 1985.

Estimates from the Miami Project put the cost of rehabilitating and caring for a quadriplegic anywhere from $500,000 to millions of dollars over the course of a lifetime. Should Gwynn remain paralyzed, there will be ramps to build, chair lifts to buy, cars to customize.

The financial picture is espeically daunting for the Gwynns because he wasn't racing in the United States or in a sanctioned race in Europe - and may not be covered by insurance.

"Because he was out of the country, the insurance over here didn't cover him," said Jerry Gwynn, who pulled his son from the wreck. "We'll have to see. . . . I have some people working on it, but I don't know what's going on."

Gwynn, 28, was taken Sunday to Jackson Memorial Hospital's neurological intensive care for observation for spinal injuries. Green will put him through a battery of X-rays, CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging. Orthopedists will fit him for a prosthesis.

As soon as possible, he will be sent home while maintaining a program of physical, emotional and social therapy.

"I haven't seen his X-rays and I haven't examined him," Green said. "Once we see him and check him over carefully, we'll be able to give a better prognosis."

by CNB