Trust Fund:
Godgreat Kudjo Tetty
First Security Bank
Any branch
Or for more information on donations call
(801) 973-3014
Sept. 6, 2000
Doctors say it's the worst freak accident they've ever seen.
A brilliant young man from Ghana was getting ready to take his new skills back home from Salt Lake when, in a split- second, his life changed forever.
Ed Yeates tells the story.
It was one of the happiest moments of his life. 24-year-old Godgreat Kudjo Tetty graduated from Salt Lake Community College. For his host family-- Marian O'Leary and Ken Klise-- this was the beginning of a new life, one he could take back to his village in Ghana.
Kudjo celebrated. It had been a memorable visit to Salt Lake. He had become a close friend to the Klises and to Ken and Lisa Fall - helping Ken coach a girls' soccer team. He loved helping people and ironically, it was while he was doing just that, that fate struck a cruel blow.
JAMES SWENSON, M.D., DEPT PHYSICAL MEDICINE-REHAB U OF U HOSPITAL: "I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT I'VE TAKEN CARE OF PATIENTS LIKE THIS FOR 35 YEARS AND HE'S THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN. HE'S THE MOST HEARTBREAKING OF ALL PATIENTS I'VE EVER TAKEN CARE OF."
"HE HAS TO USE THE INCOMING AIR AND USE IT FOR SPEECH."
Kudjo is paralyzed from the neck down. He can't breathe on his own, relying on a ventilator for survival.
He can only move a special wheelchair by sipping and puffing with his mouth.
All this damage from a simple gesture of charity-- picking apricots for the homeless.
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "IT WAS AN APRICOT TREE THAT KUDJO FELL FROM. HE ONLY DROPPED ABOUT EIGHT FEET, BUT IT WAS THE WAY HE FELL THAT DID ALL THE DAMAGE."
Kudjo hit the top of his head, twisting and breaking critical sections of the spine and damaging the base of the skull.
To make matters worse, there's no insurance to pay medical bills. And he can't go back to Ghana because his village is without resources to take care of him.
For now, friends are trying to raise money to buy plane tickets so Kudjo's parents can come see him, perhaps several times.
MARIAN O'LEARY KLISE, KUDJO'S HOST PARENT: "AS A MOTHER AND A GRANDMOTHER I KNOW I WOULD BE DEVASTATED IF I WENT TO A COUNTRY AND THOUGHT THIS MIGHT BE THE LAST TIME I WOULD SEE MY CHILD."
The soccer team says they're kicking for Kudjo, out to win the next game in his honor.
Kudjo's first name is Godgreat. Like some of his brothers named Godwind and Godsend, his parents believe their son's destiny now rests in God's hands.
