Page 64 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS semper fi
story and photos by A.J. Giardina
Taylor Foster, Logan McDonald and A.J. Giardina
I met and reported on superior amateur and professional athletes
in my 44-year broadcasting career, including Brett Farve, Drew Brees and Chris Jackson. Four months
after I retired, I met someone with
an inspiring story to succeed. I
was weight training at a local gym when a young man in a wheelchair caught my attention. I watched
in amazement as he got out of his wheelchair and began doing pushups. I introduced myself and 25-year-old Logan McDonald handed me his cell phone with a text message. Logan has difficulty speaking.
coma for over two months and my lungs collapsed twice. I can walk but not good. I still thank God every day for everything.”
Foster is contracted through the University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies with the Wounded Warrior Project. Logan’s grandparents, John and Anita Loper, are his caregivers. Mrs. Loper said, “He’s a good kid, easy to take care of, and he wants to become independent. The Marines and the V.A. in New Orleans have been instrumental in Logan’s recovery.”
It read, “I was bitten by a mosquito in boot camp four weeks into training that gave me a rare disease called lacrosse encephalitis. It put me in a
He said, “McDonald suffered the life changing event at Paris Island, South Carolina, that left him with a brain injury. I work with Logan Monday through Friday to give his grandparents a break during the day. My goal is to encourage his independent skills and work on his communication and social engagement.”
She and her husband recently built a home for Logan in McHenry. She said, “I’m 79 years old and once I leave
this earth, I want him to be capable of being on his own,”
McDonald is assisted by Taylor Foster, a certified recreational specialist. Foster said McDonald enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps five months after graduating from Stone High School in 2011.
McDonald is well on his way, living by a Marine motto — Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.
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