He's always expected a lot of himself.

Athletic achievement, academic success and exemplary behavior on and off the field are standards Tyler Schilhabel has lived by.

But the Bakersfield teen hasn't attended school for six weeks. He hasn't called plays in the huddle, received the snap, thrown his signature bullet passes or run the ball into the end zone.

Tyler has been working on something completely different, and light years more difficult than being a star student or a varsity quarterback.

To put it simply and clinically, he's learning how to live in a body without feeling or movement below the fourth thoracic vertebra.

"I'm a T-4," he says without blinking.

Then placing his hand on his chest just above the solar plexus, he explains. "I have no feeling from about here-down."

LAUGHTER AND GRATITUDE

The 16-year-old Independence High School junior hasn't said a lot publicly about the off-road accident that happened six weeks ago. But on Tuesday, as he sat in a wheelchair in his room at Rancho Los Amigos, a rehabilitation center in Downey that specializes in spinal cord injuries, he recalled the details.

While riding a "quad" at Oceano Dunes, Tyler said, "I flew over the top of a dune," not recognizing that it was one of those with a precipitous drop-off on the other side of the crest.

He went airborne and landed violently, spilling over the handlebars. When he tried to get up, he realized his lower body wasn't responding.

"My head was up against the tire," he remembered. "My legs were turned back the other way."

When his brother Drew arrived at the scene minutes later, Tyler's instinct was to reassure, to communicate and to head off any reaction that might resemble panic.

"The first thing I said to Drew was, 'Don't freak out, but I can't feel anything from the chest down.'"

Since that day, a positive outlook and a uniquely Schilhabel sense of humor have been important components of Tyler's therapy.

"It was jokes from the start," he said. "Yeah, it was tough, too, but I wasn't going to be sad about it."

As Ty's parents, Dave and Shelly Schilhabel, raced toward the Stanford hospital where their critically injured son was first airlifted, they chose to count their blessings rather than curse their misfortune.

"We knew his back was broken," remembered Tyler's mom. "But he had a helmet on. He's alive. That's what we kept telling each other. He's alive."

REACHING DOWN DEEP

Tuesday was a typical day in Tyler's rehab treatment -- that is, if anything in his life at this point can be defined as typical. After a midmorning physical therapy session, Tyler enjoyed lunch outdoors with his mom, dad and brother Kip, who works as a California Highway Patrol officer in the Beaumont and Banning areas.

The family, who stays in a big RV that Rancho lets them park on the property, enjoyed Mexican food served in the courtyard.

When asked about the hospital food inside, Tyler grinned and shook his head.

After lunch, Tyler used his impressive upper-body strength to wheel his chair well ahead of the group as he headed toward the weight room. He lost 30 pounds in the weeks following the accident as the muscles in his lower body have atrophied. So strength training is a must.

In the weight room, the teen patient performed lat pull-downs, dips, and rows -- all designed to make life in a wheelchair easier.

"Every weight he does today should be more than yesterday," Dave Schilhabel told Kathy Hicks-Beach, the physical therapist assistant monitoring Tyler's progress.

Ty had participated in wheelchair basketball the night before for the first time, and the coach had been excited by how quickly Tyler was picking up the game, Dave said.

"Even though he's going home, he wants to be involved in the basketball team," he added.

Hicks-Beach remarked on the progress Ty has made.

"Oh, this is a whole new guy," she said. "He was weak as a baby when he got here, but he's come so far."

AGONY AND ECSTASY

Despite Tyler's genuine positive outlook, the difficulties he faces are profound. The first time he was placed face-down and asked by a physical therapist to turn himself over was a humbling experience for an athlete accustomed to having mastery over his physical body.

Kip said it was one of the hardest things he had ever witnessed as he watched tears spring to his brother's eyes as every attempt was frustrated.

We don't realize that we use our whole body to perform simple movements like turning over, Kip said. When we lose the use of our legs, simple movements can become daunting.

There certainly have been some dark moments since the accident, Tyler acknowledged. And that was one of them.

"It was a helpless feeling," he said.

The difficulty of performing once-simple tasks was brought home again during Tyler's afternoon occupational therapy session with Physical Therapist Oliver De La Paz.

Ty was asked to move himself from a wheelchair to an office chair and back again, a supremely difficult maneuver when your legs bring nothing but dead weight to the effort. In Ty's case, his abdominals and other core muscles are also useless to him.

After lifting each foot with his hands and arms and moving them into a better position, Tyler was able -- by employing a lot of upper-body strength and getting a little help from those around him -- to get himself into the office chair.

Getting back was even tougher.

"Don't get sloppy!" De La Paz ordered, sounding not unlike a football coach working on a passing pattern with his quarterback.

After several minutes of effort, Tyler's face was a mixture of frustration and determination.

'COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT'

Ty has participated in a youth group session every few weeks at Rancho. In one session, participants were asked to come up with a word that described what they were feeling.

"Grateful" was Tyler's word.

He's grateful, he said, for the unending support he has received from his family, for the care he has enjoyed in Stanford and at Rancho, and for the thousands of prayers and well wishes he has received from the Bakersfield community and even from strangers in far-flung locations.

And he's thankful for his Latter-day Saints church community and his faith that God will someday repay his suffering with great joy.

The group sessions are valuable, his family allowed, but sometimes the emotional direction runs counter to Tyler's chosen path.

"The psychologists want him to break down," Kip said. "They want you to cry about it."

But that's not the Schilhabel style.

Neither is conceding that Tyler's paralysis could be permanent.

"It can take 60 days to six months before spinal shock goes down," said Dave Schilhabel. "Only then can you start finding out exactly what you've got going on."

Unfortunately, a possible cure for long-term paralysis is years away, but clinical trials are taking place with stem cell-based therapies and other efforts.

But for Tyler and his family, the approach they have adopted is right for them. It's a view reflected in the words of church elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, who Ty listens to regularly on a YouTube video titled, "Come what may, and love it."

Wirthlin says the way we respond to adversity is crucial to our happiness, that our own suffering "increases our compassion and understanding for others" and that "every tear today will eventually be returned a hundred-fold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

By Thursday, Tyler was back home in Bakersfield, where his family will need to make some physical changes to the downstairs bathroom.

He fully intends to rejoin the varsity football team, where he will support his teammates from the sidelines.

And he's determined to return to school and his academic studies Monday.

"No, it's not just a possibility," he said, once again exhibiting that distinctive Schilhabel determination. "It's going to happen."

Images

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Building upper-body strength is a big part of Tyler Schilhabel's rehabilitation after an ATV accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. Here Tyler does internal rotations in the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center weight room.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

After weightlifting, Tyler Schilhabel heads to his room in the Jacquelin Perry Institute at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Father, Dave, big brother Kip, and mom, Shelly, are just part of the large Schilhabel family rallying and giving support to Tyler.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Independence High quarterback Tyler Schilhabel talks with physical therapist assistant Kathy Hicks-Beach during a short break in his therapy at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, Calif. Schilhabel was paralyzed from the chest down after an ATV accident on the coast and is going through rehabilitation at the facility.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Working on his upper-body strength, Tyler Schilhabel does tricep extensions in the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center weight room.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

At the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Tyler Schilhabel tries different seats for his wheelchair. Schilhabel and his parents, Dave and Shelly, watch a monitor as physical therapist Debbie Levin explains the difference in styles.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Along with his Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center identification band, Tyler Schilhabel also has a bracelet on his wrists with the words "Never Give Up," something he, his family and friends will never do.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

The Schilhabel family, left from top center, brother Kip, Tyler, mother, Shelly, and father, Dave, talk with the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center medical staff to see when Tyler might be able to come home.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center recreational therapist Julie Helgren was more than excited to tell Tyler Schilhabel about the center's championship wheelchair basketball team and other sports she thinks Tyler could excel at. Tyler's father, Dave Schilhabel, is in the center.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Texting and emails keep Tyler Schilhabel in touch with his friends during weekdays while he is in Downey, CA for rehabilitation following an ATV accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. On weekends, many of his friends make the four hour round trip to visit with Tyler face to face.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

PS1050, Tyler Schilhabel's room at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, while he is in rehabilitation after an off-road accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Working on his upper-body strength, Tyler Schilhabel does tricep extensions in the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center weight room.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

As his mom Shelly, right, steadies a chair, Tyler Schilhabel works on transferring to from his wheelchair to a rolling office chair as part of his rehabilitation at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. At left is physical therapist Oliver De La Paz, father Dave, and big brother Kip are in the center.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

After weightlifting, Tyler Schilhabel heads to his room in the Jacquelin Perry Institute at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Tyler Schilhabel listens and his big brother Kip rubs his shoulder as they and their parents talk to medical staff about when Tyler might be able to come home.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

Father, Dave, big brother Kip, and mom, Shelly, are just part of the large Schilhabel family rallying and giving support to Tyler.

Felix Adamo / The Californian

After lunch, brother Kip Schilhabel pushes Tyler to his afternoon physical therapy. Seconds later, Tyler would take off on his own and beat all three (mom and dad, Shelly and Dave, are in back) to the Jacquelin Perry Institute, which houses the therapy rooms as well as the rooms where patients such as Tyler stay.