- May 9, 2024
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Sandy Paytas, Jan Crowe, Shawn Reynolds and Kirk Crandall. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall and his personal trainer Bryan Wright. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall and Jade Wright. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall (right). Photo by Zach Fedewa
Marc-Andre Lavoie and Ron Monacelli. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk's "Aunt Shelly" (Shelly Bennett), Trish Ruffino, and Matt Norris. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall and his mother Shawn Reynolds. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall (left). Photo by Zach Fedewa
Photo by Zach Fedewa
Kirk Crandall, Shelly Bennett, Shawn Reynolds, and Trish Ruffino. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Photo by Zach Fedewa
Peter Morgan, Kathryn Nagib and Doug Gillikin. Photo by Zach Fedewa
Like many Saturday mornings at the Cypress Head Golf Course, there were golfers already out on the course.
However, this particular morning the golfers weren't out there for themselves. They were playing golf for a greater cause — to help Kirk Crandall, who was left a quadriplegic after a car accident.
The funds raised from the 2nd Annual Golf Classic will help Crandall continue his physical therapy sessions, which have cost thousands of dollars. It costs around $50,000 each year for Crandall to be in the therapy program.
This year's golf tournament brought in about 100 golfers and raised around $32,000.
"There was just a ton of support from the community and we're just so very fortunate," Crandall's mother, Shawn Reynolds, said. "These people that were there give him hope, because without the therapy there isn't hope."
This is the second year a golf fundraiser has been held for the 26-year-old in Port Orange.
"It went as good as it possibly could," Crandall said. "It's really amazing. That gives me almost a full year of therapy right there. It really was a great day."
Crandall, a former weightlifter for Spruce Creek High, was paralyzed from the chest down after an accident on the morning of Aug. 27, 2012. Crandall had fallen asleep on his way to work when his truck reached a bend. The moment Crandall woke up he swerved trying to miss a sign causing his vehicle to fishtail before going over a ravine.
Crandall's truck flipped eight times with the roof eventually coming down on him. He was told by doctors that he should expect to never regain the use of his hands, his arms, his legs.
Nevertheless, Crandall refused to accept the diagnosis and, little by little, began regaining the the use of his hands, his arms, even his legs. His therapy sessions took him from Pennsylvania to Michigan and finally back to the place he'd grown up — Florida.
And Crandall has continued to challenge himself. This year, he enrolled in his first semester of full-time classes at Indian River State College, just down the road from where he goes to physical therapy in Port St. Lucie. Crandall said he is thinking of taking more classes next semester.
As for his physical therapy, the money raised will help him build upon the progress he has already made.
"Now I can get back to at least three hours in the gym, five days a week," Crandall said. "Now it's just getting back into the grind."
