My City September 2022

MYSPORTS

In the fall of 1998 Ramin, then a married 26-year-old father of a three-year-old son, was not far from home, traveling on I-75 to a job site when a 40-foot extension ladder broke free from his truck, landing between the right and middle lanes. “I felt I had to get the ladder off the road because I was worried oth er drivers would hit it and possibly get hurt,” Ramin recalls. “I got out and the road looked clear enough.” A semi was approaching, but moved to the left lane. Just then, a pickup truck emerged from behind the semi, passing it on the right at nearly 80 miles per hour. “Then boom – lights out,” Ramin says. The impact hurtled Ramin more than 100 feet, causing extensive injuries. His situation was dire. Ramin’s right leg was broken, bones had been ripped from his left leg and his right arm was a bloody mess.There was a hole in Ramin’s side deep enough to hold a baseball while his head swelled to the size of a basketball. Ramin’s jaw was also broken in two places and his shoulders severely dislocated. At Hurley Medical Center, Ramin lost all of his blood plus two pints as doctors fought frantically to save him. He was stabilized, but in a coma and given only a two percent chance of survival. That was better than no chance and, miraculously, Ramin began

“Things I’ve been privileged to take part in are so important. You never know who you are going to inspire.”

PHOTO CREDIT: JASON GUERRERO/CALLAWAY GOLF

showing signs of improvement. Within a week, he was out of the coma. After 24 days, he was out of the hospital, albeit with a makeshift prosthesis after his left leg could not be saved. “I had no idea how bad it was until my mother and (then) wife explained everything to me after I woke up,” Ramin recalls. “I am a naturally positive person and there was no sense in crying about the situation. The leg wasn’t growing back.” A long period of rehabili tation and recovery followed, including ten surgeries and con tinual re-fitting of his prosthesis as what remained of Ramin’s leg

shrunk to the size it was perma nently going to be. He persevered, returning to the golf course within months and welcoming daughter Jules about 18 months after the accident. In 2000, Ramin entered the Mich igan Adaptive Golf Championship for the first time and discovered something. “There were a lot of great players there, including past winners, which showed me I was not back to where I needed to be,” he says. It took some time, but Ramin reached the next level, winning his first state championship in 2010 around the same time he was watch ing son Cruz become one of Mon trose High School’s top golfers.

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