By Doug Miller
Mignoli was speaking via cell phone from a hallway in Blythedale Children's Hospital in Westchester, where her son, Sam, a popular Long Beach High School freshman, had been admitted that morning.
Prior to his admission, Sam had been in Nassau University Medical Center, undergoing a series of brain surgeries. Prior to that, he had spent four days in a coma.
Before that, at 7:50 a.m. on Jan. 29, he had been a passenger in the back seat of a car headed to Long Beach High School. The driver, an upperclassman pal, was trying to make a left off Lido Boulevard when his car was broadsided by another that was headed the other way.
Police closed the investigation without filing charges, but Superintendent of Schools Robert Greenberg said he would lobby Nassau County to do something about traffic on that block. "Among the biggest fears administrators and staff have is the safety of our youngsters who drive to school," Greenberg said Tuesday night. "It is in our prayers that all our students travel and arrive at school safely. I hope I, or any parent, never has to get a phone call like that again."
The initial reports about Sam weren't good. "The police thought they were conducting a homicide investigation," Mignoli said.
No prognosis has been offered, she said, since the healing of brain injuries is impossible to predict. "Everyone heals at his own pace," Mignoli said. "He's very confused, and he doesn't make a lot of sense all the time. He's walking and talking. He recognizes us but his personality has changed. He has a lot of blood on his brain still, but the first surgery was very successful. But they don't know what he'll be like and haven't given us a time frame."
Mignoli was a freshman star on the high school hockey team. His mother said her son is very popular, and the waiting room at NUMC, crowded with teammates, classmates and neighbors, confirmed it. The family of the boy who was driving Sam's car, Marie said, has been there every day.
Joe Brand, Sam's hockey coach, called him "one of the best athletes in the school." He was a forward on the team's second line. The day after the crash, the entire team visited him at NUMC, while he was still comatose, and to a man they emerged from the visit shaken up, Brand said. "Then they had a really emotional game that night, which they won and dedicated to him," he said. "Seeing him like that, tubes coming out of everywhere ... I can tell you, I wasn't the same."
Brand visited Sam in Westchester on Tuesday morning and said he was floored by Sam's progress. He added that the only topic on Sam's mind was hockey. "What a difference a week makes," Brand said. "He's got a long road ahead, but seeing the progress he's made is a testament to how tough a kid he is. His true colors came out."
Teresa Petruccelli is a friend of the family whose son, Ryan, has been Sam's best friend since kindergarten. "Sam is a boys' boy," she said. "He's vibrant, respectful, with a ton of friends, and the girls all love him. I was teasing him about all the girls in the waiting room crying, many he didn't even know. I told him they love him from afar."
For Sam's mother, it keeps coming back to her family's faith. She said that since the accident she has felt the embrace of the region's spiritual community. "We heard that the students at Long Beach Catholic School are praying for him, and we're Protestant," Marie said. "We've also heard he's getting prayers from Kellenberg and Chaminade and Sacred Heart - schools where we don't even know anybody."
Petruccelli said that spirituality is a common theme in her friends' lives. "They're very into their faith and the support of their church," she said. "It's gotten them through a lot of rough times, and this family has been through a lot of rough times."
By any measure, Marie has spent an awful lot of time waiting in hospital hallways. Her husband, Steve, suffers from a degenerative spinal condition, and five years ago a complication during a 15-hour spine surgery left him fighting for his life. He suffers chronic pain to this day.
That episode, Marie said, was her family's first taste of the generosity of the Long Beach community. "Five years ago they did a fund-raiser for us on the boardwalk that raised $12,000," she said. "Long Beach has been wonderful to our family"
Sam's 11-year-old sister, Sasha, attends the middle school, and his 5-year-old brother, Luke, is in kindergarten at West School. The family has spent the days since the accident juggling the needs of the children and their daily commutes to Westchester. "But we have a very strong faith in God - he's always been merciful to us," Marie said. "I look around this hospital and realize it could have been a lot worse. But I wish I was taking him home with me tonight, that's for sure."
Dan Israeli contributed to this story. Comments? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
