Paralyzed Watkins Mill Wrestler Dies From Injury

By Jon Gallo

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, January 28, 2006; E01

Mike Tyler, the high school wrestler from Montgomery County who broke his neck earlier this month during a match, died yesterday when his parents decided to take him off life support after he was declared brain dead on Thursday. He was 16.

Tyler, a junior at Watkins Mill High School, had been in the intensive care unit at Children's National Medical Center in the District. He was unconscious and had been breathing with the help of a ventilator since Tuesday afternoon, his stepfather said yesterday.

"The last thing we told him was how much we loved him and how much of a great person he was and that we'll see him again on the other side," said Perry Young, Tyler's stepfather. "He was just a great young man and always tried to do the right thing."

Young said an autopsy would be performed in the next few days, but doctors said an MRI exam and a test to determine the level of brain activity on Wednesday indicated that swelling around the spinal cord injury was preventing the flow of oxygen to Tyler's brain.

Young and Tyler's mother, Sylvia, spent Thursday night discussing Tyler's future before the couple informed doctors at Children's yesterday evening at approximately 5:15 p.m. that they had made the decision to turn off the ventilator that was keeping their son alive.

"Three minutes later, he was gone," Perry Young said. "He just slipped away. He wasn't gasping for air. It was his time."

Tyler was paralyzed from the waist down and had very limited use of his arms in hands after the Jan. 7 wrestling match. He had a feeding tube inserted two weeks ago, Young said.

Tyler, who was on Watkins Mill's football team this past fall, spent this past Sunday like many sports fans: He watched the NFC and AFC championship games. By his side on Sunday was the Richard Montgomery wrestler Tyler was competing against when he suffered the injury.

"[Mike] couldn't talk, but we could read his lips and he was having fun watching the game," Young said. "It was a positive sign."

But on Tuesday -- a day after being moved from University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore to the HSC Pediatric Center in Northeast -- Tyler's heart rate rose and blood pressure dropped rapidly, causing him to drift in and out of consciousness. He was immediately taken to Children's, where he lost consciousness. Young described his son as being in a "sleep state." He never woke up.

"We lost a terrific kid today who touched a lot of people," Watkins Mill Wrestling Coach Steve Kachadorian said. "He was an absolute joy to be around. This is a huge loss for the Watkins Mill community."

Tyler suffered the injury during a dual-meet tournament at Walter Johnson. Tyler and his 171-pound opponent from Richard Montgomery had each other in a headlock, and Tyler was taken down and landed on his neck.

The next day, he underwent five hours of surgery to fuse two vertebrae and have a plate inserted to strengthen his spinal cord.

"We're searching for answers," Young said. "Right now, we just want to thank everyone who prayed for our son and was there to help our family through this. We had letters from people all over the country and even the Dallas Cowboys sent a present [a helmet, T-shirts and a calendar featuring the team's cheerleaders]. Mike would have wanted everyone to know how much he appreciated it."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012800096_pf.html