Fourteen year old Daniel “Danno” Wernecke, MVP for Patriot High School’s Freshman Football Team and resident of Braemar, is recovering after an ATV accident in late December left him with head trauma and leg injuries.
Danno was spending the weekend on a boys’ trip in the mountains of Western Maryland to celebrate his older brother, Karl’s sixteenth birthday. The young men were riding ATVs somewhere near the West Virginia border, when Danno was thrown from his vehicle.
At first it looked very bad.
“My other son was there,” said Anne Wernecke, Danno’s mother. “He says it threw him 90 feet. He crashed on some rocks and his helmet flew off.”
According to Mrs. Wernecke, Danno almost died if not for the intervention of his brother and the other boys who were with Danno on the mountain that day.
“They did some things before the paramedics could get there. There were a lot of things that took place to helped his recovery,” said Wernecke.
One action, which doctor’s said helped Danno recover, was that Karl Jr. and friends knew how to approach a person who is unconscious.
“My son, who is a lifeguard, cleared the airways. (Danno) was barely conscious,” Wernecke said.
There were other fortunate occurrences as well during that first critical hour.
Although the boys did not know exactly where they were, they were able to get GPS navigation on their phones. When they called 911, the responder, who travels all over the region, happened to be nearby. Furthermore, the accident just happened to occur only 50 feet from the medical helicopter landing zone.
And although the roads had been empty for hours, a car drove by, which allowed one of the boys to get a ride back to the cabins to tell their Danno's fathers Karl Sr. what had happened.
Because of Danno's friends and relatives, a medical helicopter was able to land on the mountain and subsequently transport Danno to West Virginia Medical Hospital. At the hospital things looked bleak at first, and doctors did not know if Danno would survive.
“There was a 50 percent chance of losing his leg. They reattached the arteries. There were two more surgies, plus traumatic brain injury and major blood loss,” Wernecke said. “He was on life support for the first week.”
Although, the Danno’s outlook was initially grim, Danno is now living at home, getting around on crutches and attending out patient physical therapy. The doctors tell the Werneck’s Danno’s youth played a big part in his recovery.
“I remind Danno, you’re lucky to be alive and you’re lucky to have your legs,” Wernecke said.
Now Danno is eager to start home school lesson to catch up with his assignments. However, his mom is making sure he does not take on too much until his brain is healed. The doctors do not believe Danno will not have any permeant damage, and because he was an advanced student, he will probably be able to graduate with his class in four years.
“He’s very, very goal oriented. He’ll work very hard, but he also knows when to take a break,” Wernecke said.
Meanwhile, in the community, friends, class mates, neighbors and church members were finding creative ways to help the Wernecke family.
Almost immediately after the accident, members of the Patriot and Bristow communities stepped up. They brought over food, gave the family gift cards to use for their hotel rooms plus the cost of gas and food on the road. Neighbors even decorated the Wernecke’s home for Christmas, while they were busy at Danno's bedside in West Virginia.
“It’s overwhelming. We’re used to be the givers and not the receivers, but we totally appreciate it.” Wernecke said.
Now, the Patriot High School community is rallying around Wernecke and looking to raise money to fund his medical expenses. They have set up several ways to help Danno, including a website, Facebook page and fundraiser event at the high school.
Danno’s website is called “Support-D-Legend” or www.support-d-legend.com. It was so named because Danno is an outstanding football linebacker, baseball catcher, student and MVP of his Patriot Freshman Football Team.
On that site, people can purchase inexpensive merchandise such as T-shirt and magnets that will help fund Danno’s recovery.
On Wed., Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. the Patriot High School community is even holding and event called “Do It For Danno FUNraiser.” The event includes pizza, a silent auction, face-painting, 50-50 raffle and bake-sale.
Wernecke is very grateful to the community, and wants to find a way to take all the good will and the community webpages, and use it to pay it forward.
As for Danno, Wernecke reports he is excited to attend the even and see all of his friends, teachers and coaches all together.
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