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Editor’s note: Certain passages containing medical details have been removed from the online version of this story.
Menlo-Atherton’s No. 1 singles player George Horowitz hits a serve and, as he does, pivots towards the court and exposes the M-A logo in gold lettering on the front of his shirt. However, on both sleeves of his shirt are two different sets of initials; ZW and BA. Theses initials have a very different significance.
The Menlo-Atherton tennis team has found itself two members short this season. Before the tennis season even began, the Bears were struck with two separate devastating misfortunes, bringing down sophomore Zack Wentz and junior Bryce Aebi.
Wentz suffered a hematoma along his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from his mid-chest down.
On New Year’s Eve in Tahoe, Wentz woke up at 5 a.m. with chest pain, a stiff back, a severe headache, and difficulty breathing. By the time the ambulance arrived, he also had developed numbness up to just below his arms. Wentz was then helicoptered to Reno, where doctors discovered that he had a hematoma, or blood clot, that was pressing against his spine. Through surgery, the doctors were able to remove the clot and Wentz was moved to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford three days later.
Wentz said moving to Stanford Hospital “was not too bad because I live a mile from Stanford . . . I had a lot of visitors.” Wentz said he had over 10 people visit him each day, including friends, family, his tennis coach Carlos Aguilar, and teachers.
After rehabbing a Stanford, the Wentz family conducted lots of research and chose for Zack to continue his rehab at Craig Hospital in Colorado, the top spinal cord injury rehab center in the world, according to him.
Wentz spent 2 1/2 months at Craig Hospital, rehabbing through a variety of activities, such as an FES bike class, which uses electrodes to contract the muscles on the legs into a biking motion. He also used the swimming pool, which Wentz said was incredibly helpful with his rehab. As other parts of his rehab, Wentz also went through physical therapy, occupational therapy, and wheelchair class to teach him how to be as independent as possible with his wheelchair.
During his time there, Wentz’s medical complications continued to arise as he developed a blood clot in his right calf, sores on his heels, urinary tract infections, and heterotrophic ossification, where Wentz developed calcium deposits on his hips.
On March 27, Wentz finally returned home from Craig Hospital. The following day, the Wentz family held a coming-home block party for Zack that drew hundreds of attendees to the family house in Menlo Park.
“It was great. There were so many people there. They were really supportive,” said Wentz. “It was just great to see.”
Wentz said he was very appreciative of everyone who showed up for the party and everyone who helped him and visited him during his rehab.
“It’s just been a really big help. It really helped get me through this,” said Wentz.
Now that Wentz is back at home, he must continue his rehab with the staff and equipment of Craig Hospital.
“It’s been a lot harder,” he said. “The morning routine takes longer. It’s just a lot more tedious and we don’t have all the equipment that we need.”
Still, Wentz has been making great progress and plans to return to school at Menlo-Atherton after spring break next week. He said he is looking forward “to seeing my friends and seeing if everything has changed.”
Last year, as a freshman, Wentz got the chance to play on the varsity tennis team at M-A for a match because a senior was sick. Playing at No. 2 doubles, Wentz and his partner won their match. That kept him in the lineup, and Wentz won again.
“We kept on winning,” Wentz said. At the end of the season, Wentz was 25-2, the best record on the team, according to Aguilar. His success earned Wentz first team all-league honors in the PAL Bay Division.
“It was a ton of fun . . . It was great just being on varsity and getting to know the upperclassmen and fool around with them and have fun,” said Wentz.
While in Colorado rehabbing, Wentz learned that this year, the Bears would be wearing his initials on their sleeve.
“I was just really surprised. I thought it was so cool and an honor,” said Wentz.
