Lutz in critical condition as a result of head injury
Family and friends offer support, keep Lutz in their thoughts
By Melanie Chupein, Co-Editor in Chief
The McDaniel College community continues to rally support for transfer student Jared Lutz and his family. Lutz remains in critical condition at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Medical personnel are closely watching his pressure vitals.
Members of the Lutz family have created a website for Jared through Caring Bridge, sponsored by the University of Maryland Medical Center. The site features a journal updated by the family with information about Lutz’s condition. The guest book tab allows visitors to leave messages and since February 3, there have been a total of 165 messages.
In addition to the website, anyone in the community wanting to send their wishes to Lutz can address cards to Jared Lutz, c/o of University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, 22 S. Greene Street, 4 South – Bed 17, Baltimore, MD 21201.
On Thursday, January 31 it was initially speculated that Lutz fell while completing his vault but information confirmed by Athletic Director Jamie Smith, explained that Lutz tripped on the mat, losing his balance and hitting his head. This occurred sometime between 5:15 p.m. and 5:19 p.m. according to Mike Webster, director of Campus Safety. Westminster paramedics arrived at 5:26 p.m. and a helicopter was on the scene at 5:47 p.m. landing on the soccer field.
The Carroll County Times wrote an article about Lutz’s accident in its Saturday, February 2 issue where Joyce Muller, associate vice president for communications and marketing, said that Lutz had surgery on Friday and is in intensive care. She emphasized that the college is concerned and that their thoughts are with Lutz and his family.
“In the fifteen years I’ve been here,” Webster said, “there’s never been a pole vaulting accident.”
News of the accident was emailed to the members of the track and field team. In the email, Coach Bryn Upton said, “On Thursday afternoon, while practicing the pole vault, Jared vaulted off the mats hitting his head. He was knocked unconscious. Just before 6pm Jared was airlifted to shock trauma in Baltimore. Coach Estes and Jason Maier drove down to the hospital and the last message I had was that he was undergoing tests and his parents were with him but he had not regained consciousness. I know I speak for the entire coaching staff when I say that our thoughts and prayers are with the Lutz family.”
The McDaniel community was informed about the accident via an email from President Joan Develin Coley’s office on Friday, February 1, which said, “Jared Lutz, a junior on the McDaniel men’s track and field team, suffered a head injury during practice at the Gill Center on Thursday afternoon. Medical personnel on the scene rushed him to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he underwent surgery.”
“Currently he is in intensive care. This is a tragic and unexpected outcome to a routine sports practice. We know that you join me in keeping him and his family in our thoughts and prayers,” the email added.
“In times like this you find out how large of a scope your friends are,” said Doug Renner, track and field head coach.
Renner, who’s been coaching since 1988, went on to say that he received a call from a coach at Messiah who had a kid on his team that went to church with Lutz.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with Jared and with his family,” added Renner.
Although Renner declined to comment about the accident, he said that this is Jared’s first year in the program, and his father is a pole vault coach and his sister vaults as well.
“He’s a great kid. He’s the kind of guy that brings a smile to your face when he walks in the room,” said Renner. “He’s certainly a great addition to our team.”
The community can get updates on Lutz’s status through the website as his family frequently adds posts to the journal section of Lutz’s website.
The first post the Lutz family made, dated Thursday, January 31, said, “The beginning…where do I start? It’s a little fuzzy (even for me) but it’s my hope that when Jared looks back on this and reads it, he will see how much we love him and how many lives he has touched all across the world.”
The post continued, “I don’t remember at all how we managed to get downtown which is very sad because I was the one in charge of giving the driving directions! After getting our visitor badges, they directed us to the waiting area where Coach Estes and Jason were. They had driven down to be with him as much as possible.”
Another post dated February 4, said, “The nurses were so pleased that the night went well. It was the first time that Jared’s numbers didn’t change negatively ovenight [sic]. In fact, he’s down to 40% on the oxygen and still in the 30’s! They also changed the skull surgery bandages and were going to tweek [sic] a few of the wires. His coloring looks good and he still looks so peaceful.”
On February 8, the family wrote, “Jared…I prayed today for a sign for how he’s doing. His numbers actually reached 14 today (he was at 80 when they brought him into the emergency room). I know that they will continue to go up and down, but when they do go up, they seem to not go as far as before, and come down a little more than before. The nurses have said not to stress over the exact number but rather patterns. However, since I have such limited medical knowledge I need something I can focus on and relate to. This seems to be it!”
While friends and family have been able to read about Lutz’s progress from the Caring Bridge website, others have opted to write on his Facebook wall, offering messages of prayer, encouragement and love.
Students on the track and field team met with the coaches to discuss the incident.
“I went to high school with Jared,” said sophomore Jen Thompson. “We were friends on the track team at Liberty High school, then we graduated together, and we both came to McDaniel where we are both on the track team together. Jared is entertaining to say the least, no matter how bad your day is he has something ridiculous to say to make you stop and smile. He makes fun of me a lot too and that is pretty much my favorite part of our relationship: our constant friendly banter.”
Junior Erin Balsamo, another pole vaulter, said, “He shows up to practice all the time, and he’s always ready to vault. He’s fun to hang out with and he’s helpful. He knows a lot of tips because he’s been doing it for years.”
Asked about any safety concerns with vaulting, Balsamo added, “Every athlete knows the dangers involved. They know what could happen. They just have to take precautions. I’m still gonna do it.”