09/16/26 10:55:00
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09/16 10:53 CDT Paralyzed A's minor leaguer Ryan Lasko leaves hospital more
than two months after spinal-cord injury
Paralyzed A's minor leaguer Ryan Lasko leaves hospital more than two months
after spinal-cord injury
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer
WEST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) --- Ryan Lasko, a minor league prospect with the
Athletics who was paralyzed in an outfield collision more than two months ago,
has been released from an in-patient rehabilitation hospital and will continue
his recovery from home.
The 24-year-old Lasko was released Wednesday exactly two months after arriving
at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in his home state of New Jersey,
about 35 miles from where he attended college at Rutgers and became a
second-round draft pick by the A's in 2023. Staff members at the facility
celebrated his departure with a "clap out" farewell ceremony as he exited the
building's main entrance.
Lasko suffered the spinal cord injury in a collision with a teammate June 30
that left him paralyzed from the chest down, with both arms affected, too. His
dominant right arm --- the one he uses to throw and hit --- is weaker and will
take more time to strengthen. His legs and feet have begun to regain some
feeling and tingling sensations.
He told The Associated Press this week he can't predict how the next year will
go. For now, he is focusing on the present and "reworking my brain to just
wait, there's nothing else I can do now, I have to wait."
Going home is a major milestone. He said he's excited for a home-cooked meal
and to follow through on offseason travel plans with girlfriend Alli Graff
despite the additional challenges.
"I've kind of stopped trying to look that far ahead because they keep telling
me it's two months, this is only the beginning still, but it feels like it's
been forever," Lasko told the AP. "It's gone by quick, but it's also been the
longest two months of my life. They keep telling me that it's only the
beginning so that's where I'm trying to learn to have patience, because I
expected it would happen overnight and that's really not how it works
whatsoever. But I'm learning, slowly, it's a very slow process with everything."
Lasko fractured the C6 and C7 vertebrae in his neck during a frightening moment
as he and Double-A Midland teammate Devin Taylor ran into each other in a game
at Frisco, Texas, both attempting to make a play on a ball to the gap.
Lasko was carted off the field and taken to a nearby hospital for immediate
spinal decompression and stabilization surgery.
His doctors and physical and occupational therapists are encouraged by his
progress and optimistic he could make a full recovery and walk again in time.
"It's been a long road," Lasko's mother, Patti, said while moving some of his
belongings into her car with Graff outside the facility. She was in the stands
for the game when he was hurt.
"The two of them work as a team. I feel like it's a new beginning."
He will initially return to his hometown of Jackson, New Jersey, and then live
in a hotel near the Kessler facility for approximately two months as he
continues to make strides.
Lasko counts each of the "big wins" along the way, like being able just to go
outside again.
"I don't know what the next step is, so that's kind of scary. There's a lot
more unknown," he said. "The first day I got here they asked me what my goal
was and I said to be as independent as possible. I've gotten to that point,
I've checked a lot of boxes. Everything that I said I couldn't do, I can do now
--- simple stuff like opening my water bottle that you take for granted. ...
There's a lot of small things that I took for granted that I couldn't do that I
can do somewhat now again."
___
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