The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa., Ron Musselman column

June 14--ST. BENEDICT

Ken Lantzy has spent nearly 45 years of his life confined to a wheelchair, but you would never know it unless you visually see him.

His positive attitude is delightful, considering the circumstances surrounding his disability.

"You either adapt or you die and I wasn't interested in dying," Lantzy said. "I wanted to keep on living and thinking positive, and that's what I have done.

"I have a good life," said the man for whom the Ken Lantzy All-Star Classic football game was named. "I have a good family. There's not much else I could ask for."

The 2015 Lantzy game will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at Greater Johnstown High School's Trojan Stadium.

Ken Lantzy recently welcomed two visitors to his house with a hearty smile and a warm hello.

On this particular day, Lantzy's 8-year-old granddaughter, Stella Giddings, was being playful with her pap.

The love between the two was evident.

"I'm the lucky one," she said, smiling.

When he was 16, Lantzy was injured the last weekend of October in 1970 while playing in a football game for Cambria Heights High School against Windber.

He suffered head and neck injuries while making a tackle in the first quarter of the game.

'Something bad ...'

The field in Patton where Lantzy was injured is approximately six miles from where he currently lives.

"I was playing defensive back," he said, "and I was tackling a player on a sweep play and I hit his thigh the wrong way with my helmet.

"I knew right there on the field something bad had happened."

Lantzy said he blacked out for a brief period of time, but remembers waking up at what was then called Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital in Johnstown, surrounded by his immediate family.

The diagnosis was not encouraging.

Lantzy's spinal cord injury caused permanent paralysis of his arms and legs.

"I remember thinking early on that I would recover and get back out on the field playing football again, either in high school or college," he said.

"But once I realized that was never going to happen again, I knew the injury definitely would change my life and I would have to adjust."

After being hospitalized for several months in Johnstown and Pittsburgh, Lantzy finally returned to his family home in Carrolltown.

In 1971, an all-star football game was initiated by the Cambria Area Football Coaches Association for the benefit of the Ken Lantzy Trust Fund to help with his medical expenses.

The inaugural benefit game was sanctioned by the NCAA and was played in mid-August at Windber Stadium.

Lantzy attended that game, a 30-0 North victory.

He received a standing ovation from the crowd of nearly 5,000 prior to kickoff, then watched the game from wheelchair on the sideline.

'A fixture in town'

Lantzy graduated from Cambria Heights in 1972. He said he hasn't attended the all-star game in nearly a decade, but still keeps tabs on it.

The Ken Lantzy All-Star Classic now supports athletic and academic scholarships for college-bound participants.

"I think it's done a lot of good over the years for the community," Lantzy said. "It has helped raise a lot of money for scholarships for kids and for spinal-cord research."

After high school, Lantzy enrolled at St. Francis University in Loretto and earned a degree in secondary education in 1976.

He operates an insurance business out of his house.

For the past three decades, Lantzy also has served as a youth basketball coach in the area and as a baseball coach in the Carrolltown Little League.

"He's a fixture in town -- everybody knows who Ken Lantzy is," said Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky, who was born and raised in Patton and graduated from Cambria Heights in 1983.

Lantzy, now 61, is a huge supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as University of Pittsburgh football. He said he typically attends one Cambria Heights game a year.

He credits his parents, four sisters and two brothers for helping provide him with a quality life through the years.

Lantzy met his wife, Monica, while playing bridge online, which was another blessing. They were married in 2002. She has two daughters and two granddaughters.

"I treat them all like they are my own kids," Lantzy said. "I love them to death."

'Big-hearted teddy bear'

Jessica Estep has served as Lantzy's personal aid for the past year.

She said she has never met a more caring person.

"He's the greatest guy in the world, in my opinion," Estep said. "I have seen him do some pretty amazing things.

"The way he goes about fishing, the way he deals with the kids in sports, they way he treats people so kindly, it's all really hard to believe from a man who could be mad at the world.

"He never complains. My four kids love him. His two granddaughters love him. All the kids he coaches love him.

"He's a big-hearted teddy bear."

With that, Lantzy leaned down to hug his granddaughter, Stella.

He kissed her softly on the forehead.

"You have to go on with life, you have to enjoy life," Lantzy said. "There's no sense in moping.

"I've always tried to enjoy life to its fullest, no matter what."

Ron Musselman is a reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at @ronmusselman8.

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