Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sayson: The tragedy of Eldridge Roy
By Homer Sayson
Secondovertime
CHICAGO — Bobby Nalzaro has more enemies than Iran. He has been sued for libel so often he now knows every judge in Cebu city. He had once eluded an assassin’s bullet, and he still gets death threats by the bundle.
Through all that tempest, Bobby has stayed strong, like a mighty oak in a storm.
He still writes for Sun.Star Cebu, an opinion column that packs more sting than a beehive. And his hard-hitting “Saksi” program at dySS remains a success, a platform where he protects the oppressed and exposes wrongdoings in government.
Last Monday, however, Bobby wilted just a little bit. I spoke to him on the phone and his sadness echoed through the wires. He was emotionally spent, weak like Samson minus the hair.
He’s too young to have arthritis and it wasn’t bad coffee that got Bobby a little down. The melancholy was brought by a tragedy involving Eldridge Roy, Bobby’s only child, a 17-year-old senior at Sacred Heart School Jesuits.
Here’s a news flash for you, folks. Bobby Nalzaro, the fearless broadcaster, has a heart. And every bit of it beats for his beloved son.
“He can’t play basketball anymore and it breaks my heart because I know how much he loves the game,” Bobby told me.
BUSTED KNEECAP. “It was eleven o’clock Friday night when it happened,” said Eldridge Roy, who plans to take up nursing in college. He was dribbling the basketball, perfecting his cross-over. Things that he’d done a million of times. But he slipped and fell. It happened so fast that all Eldridge Roy can remember was the pain, the intense pain.
“It felt like someone swung a baseball bat on my knee, but tried not to cry,” he said gallantly. But he wailed and moaned, pounding his fists on the ground, begging for the misery to take a hike.
It took “20 minutes” for Eruf to arrive at the scene and rush him to the ER. It was easily the longest 20 minutes in Eldridge Roy’s 17 years.
“His kneecap was pushed to the side, a dislocation of the patella,” said Dr. Felix Vicuna in a separate interview.
Dr. Vicuna is not just another bone doctor. He is one of the best. He trained for five years in the US, and his long list of athlete-patients include Randy Suico and the Penalosa brothers.
LONG ROAD BACK. After undergoing closed reduction surgery, Eldridge Roy now wears an immobilizer to make sure his kneecap stays in place. He will undergo three weeks of rehab, a process that will hopefully lead to a recovery.
Sun.Star Cebu sports editor Noel Villaflor, a soccer goalie, has gone through closed reduction surgery as well. Noel said it hurt like hell, but he kept playing anyway and that’s why his shoulder has been operated on four times already.
A knee injury, however, is more devastating. Although there’s a high chance that Eldridge Roy can play hoops again, he will never be able to play at the pro level, something he had aspired for since he learned to dribble like a Jason Kidd and shoot like a Ray Allen.
But the PBA and the NBA were only goals, not necessarily the dream. And that’s why Eldridge Roy will be just fine.
His parents will always be there for him, and so too will Shasha Auman, the love of his life. It’s hard to fail when someone has that kind of love and support woven tightly around him.
Sorry I won’t see you playing in the NBA Finals Eldridge Roy, but I am supremely confident that you will be good at whatever you choose to do in life. After all, its a Nalzaro blood that courses through your veins.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 21, 2007 issue)
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