Newspaper article

[richinma2005]

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/020907/HS ... BS.077.php

'HEART and DETERMINATION'
By Lonnie Schwindenhammer

of the journal star


Not slowed by his disability, Midland basketball player overcomes adversity to play the game he loves


Friday, February 9,
Countless hours of practice and training have paid off for Mike Napolitano on the basketball court.
The 6-foot-1 Midland High School junior can leap higher than the rim and drain 3-pointers with exhibition-type accuracy.

Even so, Napolitano knows he will never be a complete player. He's only got one functioning hand.

"I would have been normal, but when I was coming out of the birth canal my nerves got messed up," he said. "My nerves don't tell my hand to move."

The early years

Napolitano suffered what's known as a brachial plexus injury, which occurs when the nerves that control motor function in the hands and arms are strained or stretched.

Erb-Duchenne paralysis, or Erb palsy, affects the upper arm. Klumpke palsy affects the hand and lower arm. They typically occur when the head is stretched or pulled away from the shoulder and trunk, usually during birth.

Napolitano, who arrived two weeks premature and weighed 11.2 pounds, suffers from both.

His mother, Mary Knapp, was a nursing student at Triton College in River Grove when Mike was born. She's now an obstetric nurse at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria.

"What happens with some big babies is that their head comes out but their shoulders get stuck," she said. "The doctor who performed the delivery said he nearly had to decapitate Mike to get him out."

The 16-year old Napolitano has never had the use of his left hand. Only through two subsequent surgeries has he gained some mobility in his left upper-arm.

"He crawled on one hand and one elbow," his mother said. "Every kid learns to button a button or tie their shoes with both hands, but Mike had to master those skills through ingenuity."

Coming to grips

Dealing with the social perceptions of his disability and disfigurement has often times been more difficult than overcoming the physical obstacles.

"I get a lot of stares and I have to explain it a lot," he said. "Some days it doesn't bother me, other days it does.

"Some people just want to be jerks about it. When that happens, I usually just walk away."

Mike was the third child born to Mary and John Napolitano. Mike's father, a former minor league hockey player with the Brantford (Ontario, Canada) Smoke of the Colonial Hockey League, left the family when Mary was pregnant with their fourth.

"I've got a trading card of him," Mike said. "I don't see him too much."

Mary raised her four children in Oak Park, where she attended high school.

As Mike grew up and became interested in sports, soccer seemed like a perfect fit.

"I figured soccer would be my sport since you don't use your hands," he said. "But it got kind of old after a while and it wasn't that much fun, and I'm not really that good when it comes to kicking a ball."

Moving on

Mary eventually moved her family to Lake Wildwood, a subdivision near Varna, in the Midland school district. It was about that time Mike found the sport he really wanted to play.

"I fell in love with basketball watching it on TV," he said. "I decided I was going to play and I didn't really care what anyone else thought."

Mike seized the opportunity and joined his grade-school teams in seventh and eighth grades. It was as a freshman at Midland he first met Joe Mintus, who then was Midland's first-year varsity coach.

"I was skeptical," Mintus said. "But he stuck his nose in there and he's worked his butt off. He's got a knack for the ball and a quicker shot than some kids with two hands. If every kid had his heart and determination, it would be hard to lose."

Mike played with the junior varsity his first two years at Midland. He's working his way up the depth chart this season as a first-year member of the Midland varsity.

"I play ball every chance I get," he said. "I go to the (YMCA in Peru) quite a bit, and usually get to school two hours early to shoot around. I like to stay after school to shoot some more."

Honing his skills

Napolitano's dedication and efforts have improved his basketball abilities, as well as

[Carolyn J]

Thank you for sharing this,Rich. I hope some teens see it too.
Carolyn J
Adult LOBPI

[mom2blake]

I live about an hour away from this young man and am really thinking about contacting him so that my 9yr old son with ROBPI could meet him. What an inspiration!! Blake is suffering with some self esteem issues with his arm and maybe it would really help to meet. I wish I had seen this article sooner, I get the PJS only on Sundays.

Crystal S.

[jeremyl2906]

MY 5 YEAR OLD LOVES BASKETBALL,HE WAS BORN WITH BP TO.AWESOME STORY.