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SUNNY Temp: 70 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Friday, June 27, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 24, 2003 Michael Salvestrin, 11, is a member of the Jackson County 4H archery team despite being confined to a wheelchair since birth, the result of spina bifida. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Stick-to-itiveness Archery is just one of the many pursuits young Michael Salvestrin enjoys despite being wheelchair bound Advertisement By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune Michael Salvestrin doesn’t wake up each morning bent on showing the world what he can do. He’s an 11-year-old boy. The big picture for him is really pretty simple. "When I was younger," he says, "and some kids would say I couldn’t do stuff, I didn’t do things because they said I couldn’t. I did stuff because it was fun, and I didn’t want to be left out." Then, lighting up as if opening a wonderful gift, he gushes, " I’m amazed at some of the stuff I actually do!" Michael has been in a wheelchair since birth, the result of spina bifida. He occasionally gets around on crutches and braces, but it’s a labor- intensive mode. Nevertheless, the bright plucky child with the stylish do and very much a can-do spirit has tried more activities than a cruise director. He’s especially into archery as a member of the Jackson County 4H shooting sports club, which he’s done for a year. But there is a burgeoning list of other pursuits he’s tried and, in many cases, stuck with: fishing, hunting, swimming, horse and bike riding, snowmobiling, tennis, kneeboarding, guitar, drums. He did find school basketball tough, so he drew up plays on the sidelines and sent them in. And he does want to eventually try the other shooting-club disciplines, small bore and shotgun, but admits he and shotguns have a tenuous relationship. Michael was goose hunting with his father and friends, poised at the front of the boat but unfamiliar with the shell he was using. "I shot it," he says, "and, long story short, the gun went one direction and I went the other." He managed to stay in the boat, and the gun was rescued before it sank. Being active comes with the territory. Michael’s father, Perry, oversees Stewart Park. The family has lived there for nearly nine years in the manager’s residence on Lost Creek Lake. "Those are the kinds of things we would have done had he not been born with spina bifida," says his mother, Carolyn, of their only child. Spina bifida occurs when spinal column vertebrae don’t fully close during pregnancy, causing the spinal cord to protrude through the back. Surgery to close the opening minimizes the risk of infection and preserves existing function in the spinal cord, according to the Spina Bifida Association of America Web site. Michael had the surgery when he was 23 hours old. He spent 23 days in intensive care at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. When the spinal cord is interrupted, says Carolyn, it affects the legs and feet. Michael has had two surgeries — at six months and in kindergarten — to straighten legs and feet that turned inward and upward. He will undergo a third surgery in the near future. Early on, doctors tried to correct what they could with casts. "We changed casts, like, every week that first year," says Carolyn. "He had 22 casts by the time he was a year old." A decade later, he’s found myriad ways to adjust. "If there’s a way to do it, that’s our job, to help him figure it out and help him try to do it," says Carolyn. "He’s pretty determined." Archery is a prime example. Lorie Hatfield, one of two 4H archery leaders, suggested to Michael that he try it when the small-bore program didn’t readily materialize. It took him all of 15 minutes to develop a passion for it. There are about 25 kids in the program, and it wasn’t long before Michael was one of the gang. Tony Simpson, whose daughters shoot, watched a recent practice at the Medford Rifle and Pistol Club. "He’s a doer," Simpson said, nodding in Michael’s direction. "He wants to shoot. He wants to get his own arrows. He’s an independent little dude. If you spend a few minutes with him, you see that." On this particular evening, a head wind wreaks havoc on some of Michael’s shots from 20 yards. At 30 pounds, the tension on his bow string is the lightest, about one-fifth of the strongest. A few of his arrows skip under the target and skim to the back of the range, but most find it. One is in the bull’s-eye. "That gives me 186 now," he grins. He’s been counting them since he started, in competition, in practice at the range, in practice at home. "I just count bull’s-eyes," he says. "That’s pretty much all that matters in my book." Competitions are held monthly from October to April. Archers shoot indoors at their home range, then results are mailed in and compared to others from throughout the state. In January, Michael placed ninth out of 26 entries. At the county fair last year, he tied for second. All in fun, right? Well ... There are times when Michael, whose impeccable manners would make a butler seem roguish, bows his neck when it’s suggested he can’t do this or that. It happened at Emigrant Lake this past spring. Some kids doubted he could go down the giant water slide. "When they say I can’t do something," says Michael, "that makes me really sort of mad." A lifeguard and a parent carried him to the top, and off he went. The ride of his life? "You go straight and level for about a foot," says Michael, "then there’s a drop that went straight down. It caught me off-guard. I was praying so hard. "After getting my bearings back and resting in the pool for a few minutes, I went back and did it about three more times." Yes, all in fun. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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