GAINESVILLE – Cloaked beneath a green University of Miami blanket is a body of contradicting abilities. 

The upper half is young and vigorous. The lower half is listless and unresponsive. 

And yet, Anthony Reynolds, a 17-year-old senior from Keystone Heights High, refuses to be desolate. 

So young to suffer one of life’s unfairest brutalities, Anthony’s twisted body was confined to a small room at the UF Health Rehabilitation Hospital for nearly a month. 

He has a cellphone, a stack of computer games against the wall and a television mounted to the wall – things to preoccupy his attention. But every day, the walls close in even more because there isn’t anything to feed his spirit. 

He has movement above his chest. He suffered a severe spinal injury to his sixth thoracic vertebrae (T6) and along his vertebral column when he was thrown from his four-wheeler on Aug. 20 while riding on a dirt road in McRae. 

“It completely broke at my T6, but it injured all my vertebrae up to T3,” Anthony said. “They fused all of those vertebrae together.” 

While the prognosis isn’t promising, Anthony said he won’t stop trying to make the best of every situation. 

“I’ve always been an independent person,” Anthony said. “I hate it here (at the rehab). I love the people. They’ve been really good to me. I hate asking for help. If I drop something, somebody else must pick it up. It’s been humbling, that’s for sure.” 

‘Mom, don’t be mad’ 

Anthony was cutting trails with his friends on a Sunday along a limestone road off County Road 315C. He loved being in the sultry air, feeling the stings of branches scratching his skin and the grit of dust in his teeth. 

As he approached a turn, he knew he was going too fast. And he realized the brakes didn’t work on his ATV. 

“I was going too fast, and my four-wheeler was about to flip,” he said. “I tried to back it down, but I had no brakes. I hit the lime rock in the road, launching me in the air. I saw fence posts, so I closed my eyes. While my eyes were closed, I hit a post and heard some cracks. When I opened my eyes, my friends were there freaking out. They helped me sit up, and I heard cracks and pops down my back. 

“I knew something was wrong.” 

Anthony lay down and asked to use a friend’s cell phone. The call was to his mother. He told her not to be mad because he wrecked the four-wheeler. Then he told her he may be paralyzed. 

“He said, ‘Mom, I’m pretty sure I can’t feel anything,’” Heather said. 

Clay County Fire Rescue Station 23 responded and quickly summoned a helicopter to life-flight him to UF Health Shands in Gainesville, using McRae Elementary as the rendezvous point. 

“At the hospital, he was very depressed and scared,” his father said. “Almost immediately, we started hearing from people from Keystone.” 

After becoming stable following surgery, Anthony was moved to the rehabilitation hospital to continue his recovery. The tedious regiment of twists, massages and stretches will probably be part of his daily routine for the rest of his life. 

“I remember everything that happened except the surgery,” Anthony said. 

Keystone Heights community rallies 

One of the first to call was Keystone Heights Junior/Senior High Principal Laurie Burke, who visited Anthony in the hospital the next day. 

“Anthony is a super, super, super nice kid,” Burke said. “Our community is good about coming together when there’s a need. A big part of that is our churches. It doesn’t matter where you attend. They all come together. We’re all one family when it comes to our kids.” 

Anthony was released from the rehab hospital on Wednesday, but not before his doctors were convinced he was going to an environment conducive to his continued rehabilitation. Eric and Heather knew their house’s floorplan was too restrictive, so the Music Minster at Gadara Baptist Church Sam Raab and his wife Susie in McRae invited the teen to stay with them. 

“It’s until my wife and I can collect enough for a downpayment for a house,” Eric said. “People who barely know us have stepped up.” 

A GoFundMe account, gofundme/474b080f, was established to help the family with their medical bills and get them back together under one roof. 

Anthony is friends with Sam Raab’s son, who is away in the Navy. The Raabs consider Anthony part of the family. 

“After the initial shock of everything drew down, we got together and asked what we could do as a church,” Sam Raab said. “It came down to one, a Holy Spirit moment. Let him stay here. Having him come home with us temporarily came to us very quickly.” 

Raab picked up Anthony from the rehab facility on Wednesday afternoon and took him to the midweek service later that day. 

“All the ladies here at church wanted to be lovin’ on him,” Raab said. 

A fundraising afternoon of music, food and vendors will be Dec. 2. Event organizers are finalizing the plans for a location. 

Burke said a fundraising flyer is posted on the school’s administration building wall. Classmates visit the rehab hospital every day. 

The long road ahead 

Anthony wanted to be an underwater welder after graduation. While he hasn’t given up on that dream, he also said he’s interested in computer science. For now, he’s worried about missing more than a month of high school classes. 

“I told Anthony not to worry,” Burke said. “You will graduate. We’re going to make sure that happens.” 

The rest of his future isn’t as settled. The likelihood of being confined to a wheelchair is real. He probably will need around-the-clock care. 

While the accident may have taken his ability to walk again, it couldn’t rob him of his courage and optimism. 

“I still have my life. This is not going to affect me. Nobody should be worried about it too much,” he said. 

“He’s never once complained,” Raab said. “He’s never said, ‘Why me? How did this happen to me?’” 

Eric Reynolds has questions and concerns. He wants the best for his son but is unsure what that means right now. Facing the unknown is never easy, especially for a parent. 

“This makes you think,” Eric said. “It’s really hard sometimes to be strong. But we’re Christians.” 

One thing Anthony knows is he’s going to ride his four-wheeler again, even if he has to use a seatbelt. 

“Next time,” he said, “the brakes will be working.”