PAXTON — When Dave Clampitt of Paxton awoke from a coma several months after a Nov. 3, 1990, traffic accident, he was in a medical unit with people suffering from brain injuries.

He was paralyzed from the chest down with a spinal cord injury.

While life had come crashing down on a young  man (22 years old) who had most of his life ahead of him, Clampitt didn’t stay buried in the rubble of broken dreams.

He clawed back to become an inspiration for many.

And today his work involves helping others to recover from physical difficulties.

One person who took notice is bestselling author Jordan Dane, Clampitt’s cousin. Dane has long been impressed by Clampitt’s commitment and courage. So much so that she based one of the characters, Tanner Lange, in her latest book, “On A Dark Wing,” on her cousin.

“Dave Clampitt is such a great guy,” Dane said from her San Antonio home. “He deserves recognition for what he does every day.”

One thing that has stood out for Dane is Clampitt’s use of humor to make the best of things.

According to the feedback Dane has received, the Lange character in the book is especially appealing to readers.

Clampitt, who is 44, said humor was an essential ingredient to pull himself together. He said he focused on what he still had (his mind) rather on what he had lost (the use of his legs) on the road to recovery.

“At first I was kind of in la la land (when he awoke in the Rehab Institute of Chicago) because I just came out of a head trauma,” Clampitt said. “I was (on) the head injury unit floor. Some of the people around me were in really bad condition.

“My roommate had a more involved injury than I and had problems communicating his needs.”

He said the support of his family was also vital to his recovery.

Clampitt couldn’t do tasks such as count. Training included making change, and Clampitt struggled at first because he couldn’t remember the counting process.

He said his cognitive progress was quick compared to some patients.

“When I’d read stuff, I’d have to read it over and over” to understand it.

Of course, the physical recovery was even more daunting. It took years for Clampitt to get to the point he is today. He had to learn tasks such as how to prepare a meal, dressing, bathing and driving a car.

He lost more than 40 pounds after the accident.

“I couldn’t sit on the edge of a bed,” he recalled. “I’d fall flat on my face.”

Many in Paxton probably don’t know Clampitt’s name, but they see him all over town. He likes to “run the streets” in his wheelchair for exercise.
It’s not always smooth-running.

One day while wheeling down a steep Summer Street hill, one of the gloves he used caught in a wheel and flipped the wheelchair, sending him sprawling. But Clampitt was able to get back in the chair and continue on his way.

“I just like going out in public on the streets,” Clampitt said. “I like different courses. I used to go out in the country.”

He would be gone for 10 hours.

To strengthen himself, Clampitt would climb the stairs at home using only his arms.

He said someday he’d like to get a racing chair.

When Clampitt returned to the Rehab Institute for additional therapy at one point, he got some advice that would change his life. His therapist suggested he make occupational therapy his vocation.  

So, the man who had to relearn numerous everyday tasks set out to learn more — how to help others. He enrolled at Parkland College, where he earned an associate degree to become an occupational therapy assistant.

“I was the first person in that program in a wheelchair,” Clampitt said, and he found parts of it difficult.

The cadaver lab, for instance, is not accessible for people with disabilities.

He had to learn how to work with patients, how to transport the elderly — all the while being in a wheelchair.

After working for a year in that field in Florida, he returned to Illinois and got a job at Heartland Health Care Center in Paxton, where he had interned.

“That was a very cool place to work,” Clampitt said of his internship. “They really supported me there.”

It was there that he met his wife, Stella, who worked at Heartland. He adopted her daughter, Ashley, who is 17.

Among the things he does as an occupational therapy assistant is to teach people who have had strokes or heart attacks how to get stronger and those who have had hip replacements how to be as independent as possible.

He teaches them home care tasks such as how to prepare meals safely, and he teaches them how to slow down and to be safe. For instance, he said throw rugs or poorly placed electrical cords can be dangers.

“I enjoy helping people and helping them get back to their lives,” Clampitt said.

Most of the time while out in public, Clampitt likes to be as independent as possible, but he doesn’t mind help on occasion such as when he has a lot of groceries.

Sometimes, however, he said, “People act like I can’t do anything. Young kids and adults sometimes are brutally honest. Kids want to sit on your lap. I had a lady ask me if I was in Iraq, if I was a war veteran.”

The funniest thing that happened, he said, involved a couple of his so-called friends. After going to some nightclubs in Bloomington, they went to some girls’ apartment and left Clampitt in the car for close to an hour.

“It was freezing,” he said.

Clampitt decided to have a little fun of his own. He moved their car to another location, using an ice scraper to press the brake pedal When his friends came out, “they freaked,” Clampitt said.

So, he had the last laugh. It never hurts to look on the lighter side, even when life hands you lemons.

Bestselling author drew inspiration from Clampitt

SAN ANTONIO — Jordan Dane is one of Dave Clampitt’s biggest fans.

The bestselling author of adult suspense and young adult novels used Clampitt as the inspiration for a character in her latest book, “On A Dark Wing.”

The young adult novel is the story of Abbey Chandler, a 10-year old girl who survived a horrible car accident and cheated death, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life. Five years later, she hasn’t gotten past the guilt she feels for her part in the accident.

An outcast and a loner, she finds that she’s become the target of Death’s ravens. And because of her, an innocent boy’s life is on the line when he makes a treacherous climb up Mount Denali and the Angel of Death goes with him. Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

Dane said her brother-in-law died in December from cancer.

“I wrote the book to explore death and the concept of afterlife, hoping to provide comfort to teens who might be grieving,” she said.

Dane said older readers have also written to say her book has helped them deal with losing a loved one.

Dane, who resides in San Antonio, said she decided to include a wheelchair-bound boy in the novel, and she used her cousin, Clampitt, who has been in a wheelchair since a 1990 car wreck, as her inspiration.

“I’ve always admired him for just the way he’s dealt with his handicap,” Dane said. “That guy is so physically strong. There’s a scene where a guy turns down help to get in and out of his vehicle. He just does it by himself” — something she has seen her cousin do.

She said her cousin has told her that “a lot of times your friends think they can still be your friends, but they don’t treat you the same way. Then you find out who your real friends are.”

Dane said she found out a fraction of what Clampitt has to go through after she broke her ankle and had to use a wheelchair.

“It’s amazing how hard it is to get around, and you have to orchestrate your life not to have any surprises,” she said.
“He’s the kind of quiet hero ... character in the book. This guy was an athlete before (Clampitt played high school football and played basketball and softball recreationally), and yet he has two bum legs. Does that make him less attractive? I wanted him to be charming, to be the same character he always was.”

She calls the Tanner Lange character in the book for whom Clampitt is the inspiration “irreverent and smart alecky. He’s a regular guy in every sense of the word. He’s still got a jock mentality and is very independent.”

People who know Clampitt will recognize the similarities.

dhinton@rantoulpress.com