Jack Robinson

Jacob "Jack" Robinson
Race walking
Longmeadow, Mass.
Overcame: Massive stroke

Jacob Z. "Jack" Robinson, now 85, had a massive cerebral hemorrhage in May 2006. The prognosis was not good. It was "bleak -- certain death within the next few hours or days," said Robinson's daughter, Betsy Bertuzzi.

Brain injuries are always frightening, and it is impossible to predict how someone affected by a stroke or other brain injury will bounce back. If at all. Robinson's road to recovery was further complicated by his living will.

"He could not hold his head up, follow a simple command 'say aaaah' or chew. He spent two weeks in the hospital, taking in no nourishment at all (following his explicit wishes stated in his health care proxy)," Bertuzzi said.

But even before he began his recovery in earnest, Robinson was focused on returning to the 2007 Summer National Senior Games. Bertuzzi remembers, "From the third day after his stroke, he was telling people, 'I'm going to Louisville to compete in the 2007 Senior Games -- if they'll let me.' " He spent more than a month in a rehabilitation facility, learning basic physical and mental tasks again. Eventually, although he had some trouble with his balance, Robinson could walk again.

"It is a testament to his prior physical conditioning (running and race walking three times a week for 30 years) and healthy habits (eating lots of fish, refraining from fried foods and alcohol due to a lifetime of stomach ulcers) that he was able to recover and then, step-by-step, regain his abilities to the point that he was able to compete and medal in the 2007 National Senior Games," Bertuzzi said.

F. Michael Sisavic
Softball
Portland, Ore.
Overcame: Prostate cancer, back problems

Sisavic, 68, says he has had four strikes, but he hasn't given up his turn at bat. "It's like when your car passes the 100,000 miles warrantee and everything begins to fall apart," he said.

Strike one was like a fastball down the middle. It was fast, obvious and sudden.  While making a play at shortstop in July 2004, Mike felt a sharp pain in his lower back. A few weeks later, he had spinal surgery to repair a ruptured disc. Although his foot continued to flop for almost a year, he was back playing in eight weeks and had a season batting average of .684. 

Strike two was more like a change-up, because there were no symptoms. In February 2006, Sisavic was diagnosed with clogged arteries during a routine exam. Sisavic had a triple by-pass two weeks later.

Strike three was a big one. "That was almost an out," Sisavic said. Last summer he was diagnosed with serious prostate cancer. Surgery was a success, and Mike played his first post-op tournament one month later.  He batted .735 for the season. 

Strike four came in November 2007 when Sisavic was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. After surgery, he expects to play in Senior Softball USA's Tournament of Champions in February. "Most of the guys think I'm crazy and should take it easy," Sisavic said. "Who knows? Maybe I am crazy. But then again, I am passionate about the game and I'm still at bat."

Neil Gussman
Cycling
Lancaster, Pa.
Overcame: Broken vertebra

On May 9 last year, Gussman, 55, crashed on his bicycle while going approximately 50 mph during a downhill training race. The accident was horrific. "I flipped to the road on my face and right shoulder," Gussman said. "In an instant I broke three vertebra in my neck, smashing the seventh, and broke four ribs, my collarbone and shoulder blade and my nose. I was Medevaced from the scene." Two days later, doctors replaced Gussman's shattered C-7 vertebrae with one from a cadaver. "Eight days later, I walked out of the hospital and … on Aug. 3, with two of the guys who saw the accident, I rode down the hill I crashed on." Gussman also has re-enlisted in the National Guard after an absence of 23 years. The communications manager for the Chemical Heritage Foundation has joined to offer his expertise on chemical weapons. He chronicles his National Guard experience at http://armynow.blogspot.com.

Wayne Christopherson
Long distance running
Alpena, Mich.
Overcame: Heart attack

The last 59-year-old you'd expect to have heart attack was Wayne Christopherson. He's a marathoner and he's competed in a number of ultramarathons.

But Christopherson did have a heart attack, and it occurred ironically after he finished a one-mile race in June 2007. "Luckily, he was standing next to Mike Gardiner, an ER physician and a respiratory therapist, who knew [Christopherson] had complete cardiac failure," said Christopherson's friend, Joseph Gentry.

CPR and emergency medical technicians, who jumpstarted Christopherson's heart after they arrived on the scene, saved his life. At the hospital, tests determined that Chrisopherson had a 90 percent blockage in a key artery. A surgically inserted stent has allowed him to return to his life as a runner.

His first race after the heart attack was two months later -- the Tahqua Train Run, a 25K race on August 25. He finished in 2:28.12, placing fourth in his age group and 29th overall. Over the winter he continued to compete by racing in cross country ski races.

John King
Track and Field
Portland, Ore.
Overcame: Hip replacement complications

King, now 67, won more than 200 medals in a 10-year period throwing the javelin and discus and putting the shot. But four years ago he began developing pain in his left hip, which was later diagnosed as severe degenerative arthritis. He delayed surgery until January 2006 for fear of not being able to return to competition.

When he did have his hip replaced, complications followed. The hip had to be cemented and wired back together, forcing King to be confined to his house for the better part of three months. At that point, he said, "I had really accepted the end of my Masters career."

King underwent therapy in his house and in a local pool. The hard work paid off. Seven months after the surgery, King returned to competition. He competed in four meets at the end of 2006 and won 16 medals.

Continuing his weekly therapy, King had a very successful 2007 season. He competed in 11 track meets, winning 11 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. After one full season under his belt since the surgery, King says he's looking forward to an even better 2008 season.

Fred Rosen
Chicago
Basketball
Overcame: Double knee replacement

Fred Rosen, 72, says he's not always the most athletically gifted player on the court, but he sure is the toughest. He can still hit a set shot from outside, despite playing on two artificial knees.

Rosen underwent double knee replacement surgery a little under a decade ago and still plays weekly at his gym in downtown Chicago.

Here he plays with many ex-professional hoop stars and, on one occasion, Sen. Barack Obama and his entourage. Rosen says his years of experience keep him in the game though he might not move as well as he used to. "If a guy goes by me and scores, oh well. That's just how I have to play now," says Rosen, whose is still involved with his family's liquor store, Sam's Wine & Liquors in Chicago.

Despite his knee replacements, he says he has been lucky not to have suffered any debilitating injuries, though he has seen the inside of many emergency rooms. "If you think you're 20 years younger and try to play that way, that's when you get hurt," he said. This past May, Rosen was on the Windy City team that won the 70+ age bracket at the Masters Basketball National Championship. He plans on making it to at least two more tournaments before the year's end.

-Patrick Fitzell

Jeff Farrell
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Swimming
Overcame: Heart, shoulder surgery

Jeff Farrell, 71, has recovered from major shoulder and heart surgery over the past two years. But "recovered" hardly does his comeback justice. Farrell, a former Olympic swimmer, has returned to the pool to set national and world Masters records.

Farrell, who works in residential real estate, almost saw his ability to swim collapse three years ago when he first had major surgery on his right shoulder. Then he suffered through open heart surgery in which his aortic valve was replaced.

His heart surgery was followed by standard post-cardiac rehabilitation and pleas from his wife not to go back to swimming again. But those pleas ended six months later when his spouse saw how miserable her husband was without his favorite sport.

Farrell started swimming again in August 2006. By 2007 he had turned 70 and started setting national records for the 70-74 category in May at the U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Nationals. Farrell achieved a time of 24.79 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and 56.24 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.

In July of that year at a meet in Santa Barbara, he set a world record of 28.53 seconds for the 50-meter freestyle. Among his other records: a world record time of 1:03:33 in the 100-meter freestyle and a world record of 37.26 seconds in the 50-meter breaststroke.

This year, his comeback has continued with his setting a national mark of 24.13 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle and national mark of 56.05 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. "I'd like to keep swimming. It's good for my health. It will help me live longer," Farrell said.

How long?

He said a goal of his and some of his fellow swimmers is to one day compete in the 100-104 age group.

--Ted Knutson