Turmoil to Triumph

By Pete Herrera

Renn Bailey has come a long way since that horrific day eight years ago when he fell out of a tree.
Miles and miles and miles in fact.

Bailey, who graduated in May from Moriarty (New Mexico) High School, plans to enroll this fall at the University of New Mexico, the first step in his pursuit of a degree in print journalism.

It's the next chapter in the life of a remarkable young man whose childhood was shattered by the freakish accident that left him permanently blind.

"It's true, whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger,'' Bailey said.

Strong enough to turn turmoil into triumph, injury into inspiration.

Bailey last spring won the 1,600-meter race at the Foxes and Vixens Relays in Fort Sumner. It was his first win on the track, but certainly not his first in life.

Bailey remembers little about the accident that cost him his eyesight, but he knows enough of the details.

He fell 37 feet from the Ponderosa Pine tree he and his friend Derrick Karr were climbing about a mile from Karr's home in the rural community of Des Moines, New Mexico. The date was March 28, 1999. Bailey would turn 10 two months later.

Bailey hit a branch of the huge tree as he fell, then landed on his head, shattering much of his forehead and face.

"When I fell, my brain came forward, then came back and snapped my optic nerves in the back of my eyes,'' Bailey said.

Karr went to get help. Bailey waited by the tree.

Karr's dad put the two boys in his truck and headed to Raton, the nearest town with a hospital. An ambulance met them on the way.

Bailey was initially taken to Raton, then airlifted to Albuquerque. In the months that followed, he underwent several surgeries, two of them to reconstruct his forehead and parts of his face.
Much more than his appearance had been altered by the accident.

"It was difficult,'' said Bailey, a slender 5-foot-9, 139-pound teenager who smiles and chuckles frequently as he recounts even the toughest parts of his recovery.

"We'd been living in Des Moines my whole life and it was hard for all of us, my friends included. I was used to riding my bike around town and I couldn't do that anymore. You learn to deal with things. It takes a while sometimes.''

Bailey's timeline, though, was much shorter than that of his doctors. Initially, they told him he'd have to spend 14 to 16 months in the hospital, but Bailey was able to leave the hospital three months after the accident.

Bailey's dad says finding out his son would be blind for the rest of his life was the most difficult thing he and his wife, Tana, have ever had to go through. At first, said Clay Bailey, they were told their son likely wouldn't survive.

Once he did, his courage was unshakable.

"The only time he showed any emotion was when the doctor said, `you're going to see with your hands,' said his dad. "Two little tears came out of his eyes.''

Clay Bailey says the accident transformed Renn.

"Becoming blind made Renn special. He had to start working harder and it brought something out. What he's accomplished, it's because he's blind. It's part of him now. Before, he was just part of the pack. I honestly believe if he hadn't (gone blind), he never would have run.''

The Baileys now live in Edgewood, a rural community east of Albuquerque. Clay Bailey works for the state of New Mexico as an inspector/investigator. His wife is a dispatcher with Central New Mexico Cooperative in Moriarty. Renn's sister, Dee Dee, will be a junior this fall at the University of New Mexico.

It is in Edgewood that Bailey took up running as a seventhgrader.

His history teacher was also the track coach and he encouraged Bailey to give track a try. "He got me out there and I grew to like it a lot,'' Bailey said.

Bailey runs with a guide, the two tethered by their wrists. At first, Bailey's dad was his guide, but as he got better, dad could no longer keep up. This past season, former University of New Mexico runner Matt Gonzales was Bailey's guide. Gonzales was an All-American in the 10,000 meters during his collegiate career.

Gonzales said he was amazed by Bailey's improvement last season. "As the season progressed, his running strategy really improved. When he was running (slower) he was pretty much in noman's land. As he got faster he was able to feel the pack around him. He really floored me."

It was Gonzales who was at Bailey's side when he won the 1,600 race in Fort Sumner in April. It not only was Bailey's first win, but his time of 4:55.12 was the first time he'd broken five minutes.
Bailey and Gonzales ran in the middle of the pack early in the race, but steadily worked their way to the front.

"When we got to the lead, it was a whole different feeling,'' Bailey said. "The last 200 meters I was just focusing on getting there before the other guy. I was going as hard as I could and then felt the (tape) hit my arm. I thought, `what was that?'''

Although he always runs with a guide, Bailey's career hasn't been without some unexpected speed bumps. Like the time he ran into a tree and broke his nose during a cross country meet. With blood streaming down his face, the only question he had for his guide was "Can I catch up to the pack?''

Bailey has had a busy summer. In June, he finished fourth overall in a field of more than 500 runners at the Boston Vision 5K with a time of 17:47. In July, he ran in the International World Youth Championships in Colorado Springs, an event for visually impaired runners.

When he's not competing or training, Bailey helps out around home. He can safely use a chainsaw to cut firewood, helps bale and haul hay and tends to the family's three steers, two horses and two sheep.

"I expect him to do everything I do,'' says his dad. "Some people think I'm too hard on him, but he's not handicapped. He has to have some other way to do it. It may take him a little longer, but there hasn't been a challenge yet that he hasn't taken up.''

Pete Herrera has recently retired from the Associated Press after a journalism career spanning nearly four decades.