Toms River East Community Rallies Around Caleb Thompson After Serious Injury

With each passing day, Caleb Thompson gets a little more feeling back in his arms and legs in the aftermath of a catastrophic injury.

The Toms River East senior thinks a certain bottomless source of energy may have something to do with it.

"The support of everyone at my school really has made me a lot stronger,'' Thompson said during a phone interview from his hospital bed in West Orange. "All the stuff they have been doing for me is unbelievable. It motivates me."

On Sept. 2, a day at the beach on Second Avenue in Seaside Park turned into disaster when he suffered a serious neck injury. He was at the bottom of an incline near the ocean's edge when a wave hit him and snapped his head back into the shallow sand, crushing his C5 vertebra and fracturing his C6 vertebra.

He immediately lost feeling in his arms and legs, and luckily his quick-thinking friends, fellow Toms River East seniors Jimmy Van Valkenburg and Sean Sosa, were able to move him out of the water and stabilize him while calling 911 for help. Thompson, 17, who is a pitcher on the Raiders' baseball team, was airlifted to the trauma unit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he underwent a four-hour surgery to stabilize his neck.

"The initial realization of it being so severe came when I walked into the room and saw him in a neck brace, and he told me he couldn't move,'' said Natalie Thompson, who has raised Caleb as a single mother. "It was just devastation and fear for him and what was next."

"When I walked in the room where Caleb was, his mom was there and she was crying,'' long-time family friend Joe Muzzicato said. "That's when I knew it was bad."

Caleb said he could not feel anything in his arms and legs after the surgery, but by the next morning he could flex his left quadriceps muscle. He can now move three fingers in his left hand and is getting some feeling in his right hand.

"Every day, I've been getting a little more and more back,'' he said.

Road to Recovery

In the wake of Thompson's accident, the Toms River East community has gone into overdrive to help him and his family. Shortly after his accident, principal Pat Thomas and assistant principal Vernon Rutter came and visited him along with numerous friends and students from the school. A GoFundMe page has been set up for him online to raise money for his medical bills that has currently brought in nearly $8,000, and there is also a Facebook page keeping everyone up on his progress.

The football team created white "Team Caleb" T-shirts that it sold for $10 to help raise money for his medical bills. The shirts were worn by the student section during the Raiders' game against Southern to open the season last weekend, and Toms River East head coach Charlie Diskin said the team has raised $1,467 so far to help Caleb. There should be plenty of Team Caleb shirts in the stands at Detwiler Stadium across town at Toms River South during the Raiders' game there on Friday night.

"The kids have been great because they really want to help Caleb,'' Diskin said. "He's a fighter. He's got a great attitude."

During the game, the students had a "whiteout" with their "Team Caleb" T-shirts and also FaceTimed with Caleb on his iPhone while he was in his bed at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, where he is recovering.

"There's really no word to describe it,'' his mother said. "The best word I can come up with is 'amazing.' They've been incredible and raised his spirits from Day One."

Caleb also received a phone call from Eric LeGrand, who has been an inspirational figure since being paralyzed while making a tackle for Rutgers in a game in 2010.

"It was awesome,'' Caleb said. "I didn't expect it all. When he called me that night, I had the biggest smile. He really gave me some good words. He made me believe in myself, and he really made me feel that everything was going to be all right."

Caleb also received an in-person visit from Mikey Nichols, the Monroe High School ice hockey player who was paralyzed during a game in January when he was checked into the boards from behind. Nichols was able to make it through his own difficult time with the support of the Monroe community, and wanted to pass along encouraging words while also pledging money for Caleb's recovery.

Caleb also has enjoyed the supportive texts as well as tweets to him on his Twitter account @crock222. He has a stylus cuffed around his right hand that allows him to text and tweet back.

"That's really cool because it's from people that you wouldn't expect, and that's what makes a difference,'' he said. "Even if it's someone I don't know that well, it still makes me feel like I have that support, and that's really what keeps me going."

As much support as he has gotten from Toms River East, Caleb has reciprocated it by remaining relentlessly positive.

"I haven't seen him shed a tear or feel sorry for himself ever,'' Natalie said. "He's super determined. He's the type of kid where you put a challenge in front of him and he'll beat it."

His background as an athlete should serve him well during the long road ahead.

"It's definitely helped me a lot because during baseball season, there's always little challenges that we have to beat and overcome,'' Caleb said. "We're always working on little tiny things each day in practice, so I can kind of relate here in rehab. I know that if you work on the little things, then eventually the big things will all come together."

"He's very determined, and I think being an athlete, he is used to having that goal to strive for,'' Muzzicato said.

A straight-A student, Caleb is looking to stay on pace to graduate with his class in June with help from tutors at Toms River East and also by potentially taking classes at West Orange High School near the Kessler Institute.

After having his life turned upside down, he has already set a concrete goal.

"I want to walk for graduation,'' he said. "The doctors are saying I'm going to be the one that blows everybody away."

As he takes each step toward realizing that goal, he knows he has a black-and-white army from Toms River behind him.

"The support has just been crazy,'' he said. "That's really what keeps me positive. That is what makes me work so hard every day."