After some adjustments were made to his electric wheelchair -- a quick pit stop for a tuneup, he joked -- Erik Drygas was ready to race the hallways at Craig Hospital. With his left hand, he manipulated a lever connected to the wheelchair's armrest. The wheelchair moved forward. Barely.
''I should reach my room tomorrow,'' Drygas deadpanned, rolling his eyes and grinning.
TX: Another adjustment by a hospital aide boosted the wheelchair's speed to Drygas' satisfaction and he was off. When he moved through a doorway he encountered another patient in a wheelchair, heading straight toward him.
''Hey, it's a game of chicken,'' Drygas laughed.
Nearly seven weeks have passed since Drygas, a defenseman for the University of Alaska Fairbanks hockey team, suffered a severe fracture of his fifth cervical vertebra during a practice drill. The injury left him paralyzed below the neck and his doctor here said that, barring a medical breakthrough, the 20-year-old from Fairbanks is likely to remain paralyzed.
Still, Drygas' month at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital in South Denver, has been marked by encouraging progress. Daily physical therapy has dramatically increased the movement and strength in his arms, particularly his left arm. He has regained some feeling in his arms from his shoulders to wrists, as well as movement in his left wrist.
Drygas can move his left arm laterally, away from his body, and can do the same to a lesser extent with his right arm.
''He's making very, very good progress,'' said Dr. Michael Hsu, Drygas' physician at Craig Hospital.
Hockey defensemen spend half their time skating backwards, but now all Erik Drygas thinks of is moving forward, making progress, tackling therapy with the same intensity he brought to the ice. This, he said, is no time to mope.
''You can't change it, so why dwell on it?'' Drygas, 20, said of his injury. ''There's been a lot of encouragement. There's no time to sit there and dwell on what happened. I'm just going to try to get better.''
Drygas' mother, Kathy, who has been here every day during his stay, beamed at those words.
''He's been so up,'' she said.
Drygas' positive outlook has left visitors buoyed by his good humor and high spirits.
''He was cracking jokes, he was upbeat,'' said Brian Swanson, Drygas' friend who plays at nearby Colorado College and visited Drygas recently. ''He has a great attitude. It's a tragedy it happened, but he's a strong-willed kid. He'll get through it.''
In turn, Drygas said, he has received an emotional lift from the outpouring of support by the nation's hockey community.
He receives frequent visits from college coaches and players, including Colorado College coach Don Lucia, the former UAF coach who taught Drygas in Fairbanks hockey camps when Drygas was a youth. UAF coach Dave Laurion calls frequently and friends from Alaska have visited.
When Drygas was in the intensive care unit at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital after his accident, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall called -- a special thrill because the Flyers are Drygas' favorite National Hockey League team.
Memorabilia from the Flyers and Colorado Avalanche are sprinkled throughout his room at Craig. There's a puck signed by Flyers winger John LeClair. Hockey legend Bobby Hull sent an autographed $10 bill. ESPN hockey analyst Bill Clement mentioned Drygas' story on a national television broadcast.
And Avalanche forward Mike Ricci stopped by and visited for an hour recently.
''We talked about everything from fishing to hockey,'' Drygas said.
When Erik told his mother Ricci had dropped in, a look bordering on dismay crossed her face. She has seen Ricci playing on television with his sweaty, long, black hair hanging in his face and a mouthful of teeth that is, well, dentally challenged. Ricci doesn't wear his false teeth when he plays.
''Don't worry,'' Erik told his mom. ''He had his teeth in.''
Drygas usually receives about five to 10 pieces of mail and packages each day. Some days, the tally goes as high as 20.
Financial support has been forthcoming, too. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association, the league in which Fairbanks plays, contributed $5,000 to the Erik Drygas Fund. Michigan State donated $1,150 from its split-the-pot fund-raiser at a recent game against UAF, and the Interior Referees Association of Fairbanks donated $1,000.
Mark Drygas said nearly $30,000 has been raised for his son's benefit. The UAF Face-off Club, the booster group that supports Nanook hockey, has been instrumental, initiating a variety of fund-raisers that have collected thousands of dollars. At the Top of the World Classic college basketball tournament in Fairbanks this week, $1 from each sale of a commemorative tournament poster will go to the Erik Drygas Fund.
''It's a heck of a community,'' said club president Bernie Campau. ''It really is.''
In addition, state employees have donated more than 500 hours in leave time to Kathy Drygas, a cook at the Pioneer Home in Fairbanks.
''It's been unbelievable,'' Erik Drygas said.
Drygas figured to play an important role for the Nanooks, his hometown team, as a sophomore this season. After playing in 32 of the team's 34 games last season, he spent the summer lifting weights and bulking up his 6-foot-3 frame to to a powerful 220 pounds.
''He would have been a real physical presence for us,'' said Laurion. ''He came into camp in great shape. In the sprints at the beginning of the year, he was beating our smaller, faster players.''
But an accident in practice at UAF's Patty Center on Oct. 7 brought Drygas' season to a chilling halt. In a routine power-play drill, Drygas apparently caught the edge of one of his skates and lost his balance. He tumbled to his knees and his head and shoulders struck the boards.
He had hit the boards in such a manner countless times in his career. This time, though, he suffered a fractured vertebra. That, in turn, injured his spinal cord, the nerve that relays the brain's messages to the body.
''A freak accident,'' Drygas said. ''That's the best way to describe it.''
As he lay on the ice, Drygas never lost consciousness, and he knew something was terribly wrong. He had no feeling in his body.
''I saw my arm hanging there,'' Drygas said. ''I had to ask someone if it was mine.''
He was transported to Fairbanks Memorial, and Kathy Drygas received a call telling her Erik was hurt. As a longtime hockey mom who has made her share of trips to the emergency room, she initially thought maybe Erik needed stitches to close a cut or he'd hurt his knee again. She quickly learned the injury was far more serious.
Two days later, Drygas underwent six hours of surgery to stabilize his neck. Two weeks after the surgery, he was flown here to Craig, a spinal rehabilitation facility devoted to patients with spinal cord injuries.
''Here, I'm a normal person,'' Drygas said. ''Like my dad said, everyone comes out of here better. It's a good atmosphere.''
Drygas had very limited movement in his upper body when he arrived, but already he has made significant gains. With daily physical and occupational therapy, he has gained strength and mobility in his arms.
''I can sure as heck notice the difference,'' said Kathy Drygas.
''I can finally hit my mom when she's close to me,'' Erik chimed in.
On Wednesday, Drygas regained movement in his left wrist for the first time.
''He gets so excited,'' said Mark Drygas, a Fairbanks firefighter. ''You'd think he just scored a goal.''
Drygas has dropped from 220 pounds to 170 -- ''My super diet,'' he joked. With the exception of a few days when he was bedridden with a blood clot early in his stay here, he has undergone a daily regimen of therapy and exercises.
''You have the occasional bad day when you can't sit up or therapy sucks, but lately it's been good progress,'' Drygas said.
That Drygas has approached his recovery with a strong work ethic comes as no surprise to his coach.
''He's always trained hard,'' Laurion said. ''And he was always one of those guys who wanted to be involved. If I walked into the locker room and said I needed some guys to talk at an elementary school, he'd be one of the first guys to say, 'Yeah, I'll do that.' ''
Lucia, the Colorado College coach, said he's been amazed by Drygas' courage. Drygas' story, Lucia said, reminds him what is important in life.
''You go up and you see that and you realize (hockey) is just a game,'' Lucia said. ''As important as we make it sometimes, it's really not.''
Drygas' sense of humor is as dry and deadly as ever.
He said that a visit from his sisters, 18-year-old Heidi and 16-year-old Holly, was the result of ulterior motives. ''My sisters used me as an excuse to come here and go shopping,'' Drygas cracked.
Already, Drygas has been outside Craig Hospital several times -- to a Denver Broncos football game and last week's hockey matchup between the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Denver. In the past few days, he attended a pair of Avalanche games.
''That's Erik,'' Mark Drygas said. ''He'd rather be up here playing hockey, but he's going to make the most of everything. That's better than staring at three walls and a curtain.''
Dr. Hsu said trips outside the hospital will help Drygas with his emotional recovery.
''We want him to continue to be able to socialize himself and engage in as normal of activities as possible,'' Dr. Hsu said.
Drygas is tentatively scheduled to be discharged from Craig Hospital in late January. He will then return to Fairbanks, where his family is already taking bids to remodel its house for wheelchair access. Drygas wants to pick up his studies next fall at UAF, where he was majoring in elementary education.
In the meantime, he will continue his therapy with the same energy and passion that marked his play on the ice.
''My goal right now is to use this (electric wheelchair) sometimes, but to mostly use a manual chair,'' Drygas said. ''Only a positive attitude is going to get me there.''
He does not look back. Forward is the only direction he knows.
