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Her Will Helps Her Find A Way

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By BRETT McMURPHY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 16, 2008

TAMPA - Easter was getting near, so Tony Catalano went out and bought an Easter dress for his daughter, Capri. She never got to wear it, though. A week later she contracted bacterial meningitis.

Capri was 31/2 years old. She had a 5 percent chance to make it to her fourth birthday.

"The doctors told us 95 percent with the disease die," Tony said.

For three weeks, Daddy's little girl lay motionless in a coma in a John F. Kennedy Hospital bed in Edison, N.J. For three weeks, Tony wondered when - no, it was more like if - Capri would wake up.

That was 15 years ago. He vividly remembers when Capri came out of the coma. How could he forget?

"It was a Saturday," Tony said.

His daughter had survived. But what was ahead was even more difficult - living.

University of South Florida softball coach Ken Eriksen's team stood in front of him in a half-circle after a recent practice. Eriksen discussed some final items with his team.

Every player and assistant coach for the Bulls' NCAA Regional-bound team listened intently to the coach. Freshman pitcher Capri Catalano, who stood only a few feet away, couldn't hear a word he said.

She is deaf.

"I don't think my hearing has affected that much," Catalano said. "It doesn't get in the way because I know softball. I've been playing more than 10 years. I'm used to it.

"I'm OK with it."

OK is the last word to describe Catalano. Eriksen has a better one: "Special."

In her first year at USF, Catalano was named Big East rookie of the year. She was 17-1 with a 1.40 ERA and a league-high six saves. Catalano and her teammates are competing in an NCAA Regional today in Gainesville.

No. 1 Florida is the favorite to win the four-team regional. No one is giving Catalano's team a chance. No one should bet against Catalano.

After Capri came out of the coma in 1992, the nurse said "she's groggy. It will take a couple of days to get everything back."

The harsh reality was later delivered. There was no guaranteeing she would hear again, or even walk, doctors told Capri's family. It was up to her will.

Capri literally had to crawl again before she could walk. It took six months for her to walk again.

It also took her six months to learn how to blow bubbles. She couldn't talk for three years. When Capri's friends were enjoying first grade, she finally learned to talk again. She said the word "dog."

"She had a strong fight, a strong will," Tony said. "Resilient is the word. She has a lot of strength, which makes her stubborn. That's the Italian in her, I guess."

When Capri was 5, she became one of the first children to have a cochlear implant - a surgically implanted hearing device that produces sound by stimulating nerves in the ear. She can sense sounds, but she relies on lip-reading and sign language to communicate.

The surgery wasn't half as difficult as paying for it. When the insurance company denied coverage, Tony went before the company's board of directors, only to be denied again. Finally, he went before the New Jersey Legislature.

They listened. Under pressure from local politicians, the insurance company agreed to cover the cost. The decision caused a change in policy and helped future patients as well, Tony said.

The cost of the implant and rehabilitation was about $500,000. Tony estimated, in all, the medical bills have totaled about $5 million. Insurance covered most of it.

"What wasn't covered," he said, "one way or another we get it done."

The greatest high school pitcher in New Jersey history began her athletic career on the soccer field. Tony had her play soccer to improve her motor skills, but he said she was "by far the worst kid out there."

Out of sympathy, one of Tony's friends asked then-8-year-old Capri to join a softball team. The team had a 50-game schedule. Capri played in two.

"We were afraid she would get hurt," Tony said. "But she was a fighter, courageous."

Capri quickly became interested in pitching and began imitating other pitchers. By the time her senior year ended at Governor Livingston High, she owned the state record for career strikeouts with 1,346. She did that despite pitching her senior year with a fractured back that required her to wear a brace.

"She was one of the hardest-working kids between the ages of 12 and 18," Eriksen said. "She's where she's at because of the hard work.

"That's the one thing you can say: She's put in more work than a lot of people could even dream of."

Capri won't start today when USF plays Central Florida in the NCAA Regional, but she usually comes in around the fourth inning, when the game is on the line. Not being able to hear might actually work to her advantage, USF assistant Mo Triner said.

"That doesn't allow other teams to rattle her," Triner said. "On the mound, you'll hear the other team cheering, she doesn't hear that. She doesn't have that thought in the back of her head.

"Sometimes that can be a bonus to her. But she's very special. She's been given the tools to be a very special pitcher."

She is a special role model, as well. Whenever the Bulls play in the Northeast, there are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of Capri fans.

"She has her own following," Eriksen said.

Capri said her first year away from home has been a big learning experience and "it's harder, more of a challenge" than she thought, but she's enjoying it.

"I want other deaf people to think they can do whatever they want," Capri said. "Don't let anything come in their way. Some deaf people look up to me and realize if I can do this, they can too. I like to teach girls how to pitch. It's fun teaching them.

"I'm experiencing things on my own. I won't live with my dad forever. I have to learn on my own."

Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.

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