Ashley Fozkos (IN) overcomes scoliosis to jump high

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http://nwitimes.com/articles/2007/04/02 ... 723d09.txt

Conquering the curve
Monday, April 2, 2007 12:14 AM CDT
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BY JOHN O'MALLEY
jomalley@nwitimes.com
219.548.4355

CHESTERTON | Ashley Fozkos was barely a month old when a doctor at Munster Community Hospital delivered the stunning diagnosis to her parents.

The good news was Brian and Leigh Fozkos' second child didn't have spina bifida. The bad news was she had congenital scoliosis -- curvature of the spine.

Before her fourth birthday, Fozkos, now a senior pole vaulter at Chesterton, underwent surgery at Chicago's Children's Hospital, where Dr. Michael Schafer fused the bone from three of her ribs on one side of her body to conform with the other side.

Fozkos was fitted with a plastic cast (brace) from her neck to waist that had three metal bars. One bar was in front and two others were in the back. There was a strap on the lower back and a nut by her neck to secure the top.

The brace, which resembled a clam shell in the back, was designed not to let the torso move at all. The brace was confining and restrictive. Ashley had to wear it 23 hours a day.

"There were times when she was a kid where your heart was broken, but you knew it was more important to be in the brace,'' her dad said. "There might have been some important things she missed at the time, but you knew they wouldn't be later.''

From the time she was 4 until the second grade, Fozkos had only an hour of freedom on any given day. She might shower and play, but wasn't supposed to eat -- because the cast was form-fitted and couldn't expand.

"It was hard on me. I couldn't play a lot because I was so restricted, but we did what we could,'' Ashley said.

The brace was removed when Fozkos was about 8 years old. During the course of her childhood, Fozkos went through three or four braces. Doctors checked her twice a year and watched for any increase in the curve.

When Fozkos was in seventh grade, she had to wear the brace again but not for such prolonged periods of time. By the time she was in the eighth and ninth grades, she was in the brace about 10 hours each night.

"The brace was never really without its challenges, but we were pretty creative,'' Leigh said.

While Fozkos always has had a 30 percent drop in her shoulders, the condition hasn't worsened and that's what the surgery was meant to do.

Ashley has never let scoliosis slow her down. She's actually grown stronger through adversity. She withstood the limitations she experienced, tackled the challenges she faced head on and never appeared fazed by anything.

A diver at Chesterton, Fozkos began pole-vaulting as a freshman. By the time she was a junior she won a sectional title and qualified for state with an 11-2 effort at the Highland Regional.

Two weeks ago, an 11-6 vault helped her place second at the Hoosier State Relays.

"I was amazed by her originally, but not anymore,'' Chesterton head coach Steve Kearney said. "I'm a definite believer in her now. I think you'll see her vault with the crossbar at 13 feet this year. Ashley's good at keeping her nose to the grindstone and grinding away until she gets where she wants to be.''

While her shoulders won't allow her to do forward or backward rolls, and any overhead lifting, Fozkos doesn't let that stop her. Whatever she can't do in terms of flexibility, she makes up for with her ferocity.

"It's not a big deal to me and it's something I can deal with,'' Ashley said. "My technique is pretty much where we'd like it to be.''

Ashley said she hates being pitied.

"That drives me up a wall,'' she said. "I've dealt with this for 18 years, so I really don't care.''

Fozkos' dad, a 1984 Highland grad, who serves as his daughter's vault coach, cares so much, it sometimes hurts.

Sometimes he'll look down the runway and see Ashley with a 12 to 13-foot pole in her hands and his emotions take over.

"I think about when she was born, and here's this beautiful little girl and you're looking at all kinds of problems,'' Brian said. "She was a frail little thing then, and look at her now -- getting 11 or 12 feet up in the air.

"You've come a long way, baby.''