Marquette University senior Steve Schaefer, skilled in a dozen track and field events, performed three far simpler exercises Monday that pleased his doctors in the intensive care unit of Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center.
He moved his eyes at the doctors' direction, stuck out his tongue, then said a few words. And he was breathing free of a respirator. Competing in the decathlon Thursday at the Florida State Relays, Schaefer fell backward off pads while landing in the pole vault, fracturing his skull and triggering a buildup of fluid on his brain. Emergency surgery was performed Friday to relieve the buildup. He was listed Monday night in serious but stable condition.
Assistant coach Brent Ericksen says he had never seen such an accident.
"He ended up missing the back of the pit and hit his head on the track," said Ericksen, who rode with Schaefer in the ambulance. The rest of the team competed in the Relays Friday and Saturday and returned to Milwaukee Sunday morning.
"He was in and out (of consciousness) at first, so they thought it wasn't that serious. He's a big, strong kid. Looking at him and looking at the X-rays, you wouldn't think it was the same person."
After a CAT scan Thursday showed the skull fracture and fluid on the brain, Schaefer was admitted to intensive care. A second scan Friday afternoon showed increased swelling, and doctors operated later that day. His parents and his girlfriend, Jessica Monnier of the Marquette women's track team, are staying with him.
"This was, and is, very tough for everyone," Ericksen said. "It was a real roller coaster emotionally, and on Friday the surgery happened fast. The team decided to compete, but it didn't seem important. They didn't really want to leave. We're staying in nearly constant contact with the hospital and the family."
Schaefer, from Fish Creek, was competing in his fourth year of track at Marquette. During the 1995-'96 indoor season, he set a school record in the pentathlon of 3,431 points, and last summer set the school decathlon record with 6,104 points. He ran on the distance medley relay team that won the Great Midwest Conference indoor title last year.
Schaefer finished second in the high jump for Gibraltar High School in the 1992 Wisconsin Division 2 state meet. He also was all-state in golf and lettered in basketball at Gibraltar.
"We're all just hoping and praying for him," Ericksen said.