GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – Justin Greenwood’s white K-Swiss tennis shoes are a little less white than they were three months ago. He’s out, about and getting around.

As he walked into the gates of the 2004 WIAC Track and Field Championships, held Saturday behind McPhee, the 22-year-old former student, who sustained brain injuries in a Sept. 27 football injury, had one arm wrapped around his brother, senior Josh Greenwood. His mother, Glenda Greenwood, followed close behind the duo, with beaming smiles spread across all three faces.

“Just getting out here and seeing people I know is cool,” Justin Greenwood said at the track meet, as he stood next to friend and former teammate, senior Jeff Baker. “Seeing my old pals.”

Compared to Greenwood’s appearance during a Friday afternoon session of physical therapy at the Courage Residence in Golden Valley, Minn., one distinct difference was apparent as he strolled onto the grounds of Simpson Field – two studded earrings were in his ears – ones that weren’t there 24 hours ago.

Josh Greenwood said his brother was getting the “old look” back by sporting the earrings again.

“Those earrings are the same ones (he was wearing) the day of his injury,” Glenda Greenwood said.

Saturday morning, as she was looking through a box of her son’s belongings, she came across the earrings, which were pinned in the mesh of one of Greenwood’s hats. For the first time since the accident, she decided to put them back in his ears.

A major goal accomplished
On April 20, Greenwood was moved from University Good Samaritan in Minneapolis to the Courage Residence.

“This was my goal … to get him here because of the ambience that it has,” Glenda Greenwood said as she looked out the bay window of a lounge area and commented on ducks wading in the river. “It’s just kind of like a big hotel.”

The Courage Residence, which has 64 units in the entire building, is a temporary home primarily for people with spinal cord injuries, strokes and traumatic brain injuries, said Mary Crottier, administrative assistant in communication. The average stay for each patient is six to nine months, Crottier said. Glenda Greenwood said her son probably will stay another four or five months.

“The reason I came here is because of the reputation,” Glenda Greenwood said. “I love this place.”

The Courage Residence is big on assistive technology, Crottier said, and aids the residents in relearning how to live with their disabilities.

In addition to the move, Greenwood began eye therapy at the Philips Eye Institute in Minneapolis. Although his left eye is starting to work more in conjunction with his right eye, “it’s not going to be the way it was before,” his mother said.

“I can’t see very well, so that pisses me off,” Greenwood said. He can see faces clearly, but his peripheral vision is what needs work. His vision is limited to a six-inch tunnel straight ahead, Glenda Greenwood said.

After dribbling a ball about 50 yards down the hallway with his physical therapist, Greenwood turned around to see his mother waving at him. Immediately, he waved back.

But when throwing a smaller rubber ball back and forth with her, the pair standing only a few feet apart, she challenged him and threw the ball slightly to the side. The ball fell to the floor.

“I didn’t see that one at all,” Greenwood said.

“He doesn’t have any blurred vision,” Glenda Greenwood said. “It’s just that six inches straight across.”

But, the pair has no intentions of giving up on improving his eyesight.

“By golly, if it takes us 10 years … you’re only 22,” Glenda Greenwood said as she looked at her son. “We don’t say ‘hopefully’ anymore. We say, ‘we will,’ right?”

“Yeah yeah mom,” he replied with a smile.

Getting back in the gym
As a Courage Residence worker entered the lounge and asked Greenwood if he was ready to go to the gymnasium, he looked up and responded, “Yeah, I’m ready buddy.”

Entering the elevator, he greeted another resident: “How you doin’ buddy? Having a good day?”

Greenwood whistled to himself as he walked down the hallway.

“You’re doing good, Jus,” his mother said to him as she followed behind.

Greenwood entered the gym, where he met his physical therapist for the day, Erin Sawyer.

Sawyer put a belt around Greenwood’s waist and told him to start walking heel-to-toe on one of the green lines of the basketball court. She walked by his side, hanging onto the belt. This exercise was meant to work on his balance, Glenda Greenwood said from the sidelines.

“Keep that foot in front of your toes,” Sawyer said.

“I’m trying,” Greenwood said.

“You’re doing good though.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

The pair did lunges as well, and then started jogging around the perimeter of the court.

“He’s really flat-footed, but I think that’s the muscles in his feet,” Glenda Greenwood said as she watched from the sidelines.

Greenwood also participates in aquatic therapy, archery and uses some of the machines in the fitness center. He now weighs 216 pounds, Glenda Greenwood said. The day of the accident, he weighed 208 lbs. During recovery, his weight dropped down to 158 pounds.

“I feel stronger,” he said.

In addition to his eyesight, Greenwood’s short-term memory still is coming along. When his mother asked him what day of the week archery was, the two laughed together after realizing neither of them could remember.

“If you can’t remember, I probably can’t remember either,” Greenwood said with a smile.

“I have a short-term memory problem too,” Glenda Greenwood said.

“Mine’s a little worse,” her son laughed.

From past to present
Senior Carrie Chrouser, who graduated with Greenwood from Park Falls High School, has known him for as long as she can remember. Glenda Greenwood used to baby-sit her when she was little, Chrouser said.

When the accident occurred, Chrouser went to see Greenwood in the Intensive Care Unit while he still was in a coma, she said.

Since then, she has visited him several times. Greenwood remembers Park Falls and that he grew up with Chrouser, she said, but he doesn’t remember that the two also went to UW-Eau Claire together.

“His improvement is amazing,” Chrouser said Tuesday night. “A lot of it is owed to Glenda. His mom is miraculous … I’ve seen him come from almost brain dead to where he is now.”

Chrouser said Greenwood’s father probably wishes he could be with his son more often, but in order to keep the health insurance, he has to continue working. Glenda Greenwood now resides in Eagan, Minn.

“He missed a lot of work when the accident first happened,” Chrouser said. “His dad is a good guy.”

Although Chrouser was at the track meet Saturday, she didn’t run into Greenwood or know he was present, she said.

“Everybody liked him,” she said of the days before the accident. “All the girls liked him. Everybody liked his family.”

One of the things Chrouser remembers Greenwood for is his sense of humor, which his brother also can attest to.

“I think (his sense of humor) is better than it was (before the accident),” Josh Greenwood said. “He cracks me up.”

Back at the track meet, as the two brothers stood so close to each other that one could see Josh Greenwood’s reflection in his younger brother’s Oakley sunglasses, the pair laughed and joked around with a group of young women.

“He’s always been the ladies’ man,” Chrouser said. “From little on, he was just a stud.”

Chrouser gives credit to Greenwood’s entire family for his constant improvement.

“When the accident first happened,” Chrouser said, “the first thing I heard … was that he might not live. (Since then), he has not stopped improving.

“There’s really no doubt in my mind that he’ll be 100 percent better.”

As Greenwood leaned against the fence of Simpson Field shortly before the track meet ended, he drank from a bottle of Gatorade with one hand, while his other arm remained around his brother.

As the two talked with old friends, Josh Greenwood patted him on the back and said, “At least you’re still alive, buddy.”