Even broken bones can’t break the spirit of a ballplayer. Christopher McGraw, shortstop for Wallace Community College, proved that this season.

He wasn’t supposed to play baseball this spring. Heck, he wasn’t expected to play well ever again. But he did. McGraw overcame the simultaneous breaking of his elbows on December 5 of 2002 to start in a baseball game on March 16. He was playing a pickup basketball game at the Selma YMCA when he took a nasty fall, smacking both elbows on the hardwood floor and shattering his bones and his hopes for a freshman season at Wallace.

“He had bilateral elbow fractures,” said Greg Nichols of PT Plus, the physical therapist that attended to McGraw. “After the surgical repairing, in a large percentage of cases there would be deficits in use. But through extraordinary efforts, he was able to return back with full functions of his elbows.”

McGraw’s initial prognosis was bleak–most believed that the star infielder wouldn’t be able to fully recover. Nichols said that McGraw wouldn’t be able to play the 2002 season for the Patriots.

“When Greg told me that I wasn’t going to play, that made me work that much harder,” said McGraw. “And I really just wanted to be able to move my arms again.”

Much credit is circled around those close to Christopher McGraw- he credits his family, his team, his coach, and his physical therapist for support, and in turn, they credit him for his relentless work and effort at healing.

“The prognosis was very poor in the beginning,” said Wallace baseball coach E.J. Brophy. “But sometimes doctors and rehabbers forget will and hope and desire and drive. He has all that stuff, and he made a commitment to himself to work hard, and he did.”

McGraw healing isn’t totally miraculous–he said that his elbows still give him a little trouble from time to time. But that certainly won’t stop him from winging a baseball across the diamond in his Patriots uniform this spring.