For DeMartino, It's a Blessing to Be Back on the Court

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

It's Friday, November 13, 2015 and Max DeMartino is running late. Heading eastbound on Sunrise Highway, he needs to catch the bus waiting for him at the Danzi Center tasked with transporting him and his teammates to their first game of the 2015-16 season.

After making eight appearances off the bench in 2013-14, Max was cut from the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. Instead of playing he served as manager for a team that made it all the way to the Skyline Conference championship game.

Max put in the work and earned a spot on the 2015-16 team after an impressive preseason and was on track to be the team's starting point guard. He hadn't started since high school and was chomping at the bit for an opportunity to show that he could be an integral part of the team.

Often, though, life is unpredictable. Max did make that start in the team's first contest but it didn't come before he nearly lost his life on his way to campus. After a car spun out on Sunrise Highway, Max lost control of his car and crashed into three others. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and was lucky to walk away with no injuries in time to make the bus.

Trauma aside, Max was adamant about playing on the road at York College that evening and was handed the start he was promised, but it was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

"The first three minutes into my first start, going up for a layup, I just blew out my knee," remembers DeMartino. "Tore my ACL, completely tore my lateral meniscus, my medial meniscus. Partially tore my MCL. Pretty much everything."

And that was that. In a flash, a year of hard work and determination to get back on the team by the wayside. Max was ruled out for the remainder of the season and was told there would be a long and grueling recovery ahead of him.

"Watching Max go down was probably one of the hardest things I've had to deal with as a coach," said SJC head coach Kevin Spann. "To see a young man put in countless hours of work on and off the court and then lose it all, it was gut wrenching for the team and the staff. His presence and his voice were missed, and his loss impacted the team greatly."

And, adding insult to injury, the process of returning to normalcy for Max was even tougher than advertised.

"My recovery went really, really, slow," said DeMartino. "I had so many setbacks and so many complications. I developed a condition called Arthrofibrosis which is basically when your knee scars down a lot after surgery and it limits your range of motion."

Max battled Arthrofibrosis for several months and saw countless specialists in numerous states. The stiffness was so severe that Max wasn't sure if he would ever be able to sprint again.

"Basketball was so far removed in my mind. I was just hoping to be able to play catch with my kids when I'm 40. I just wanted to be somewhat athletically inclined, but for a while it just wasn't looking good for me."

Prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, Max was in peak condition and claimed he never felt better. After the injury, he needed help getting up and down stairs.

But in May of 2016, Max underwent a revision surgery to clean up his meniscus which involved what is known as a manipulation.

"Basically you go under anesthesia and they forcibly bend your knee to try and break everything up," said DeMartino. "So that helped a bit and by July I was able to start jogging and working in the pool."

With Max's rehab going well he was set to begin participating in basketball-related activities, which did not seem possible a few months earlier. But, again, there was another setback in mid-August, one that almost cost Max his life for the second time.

"Unfortunately it rained one day, the roads were really slick and I was coming home from work on the Sagtikos Parkway," DeMartino explained. "My car lost control and I spun across three lanes of traffic.

"Basically at that point I knew I was going to die and was beginning to accept that fact. I hit the guardrail and flew out the back window of the car and woke up five or six feet away from it in the middle of the highway with blood pouring out of the back of my head."

 A nearby driver saw the accident and called an ambulance that arrived shortly after Max had come to.

"I blacked out when I hit the guardrail and don't remember much, but I do recall as they were putting me in the ambulance I kept asking if my knee was OK."

Miraculously, Max's knee was fine and he only suffered minor head, leg and shoulder injuries which set him back only two weeks, but he was just happy to be alive.

Two months later Max rejoined his teammates for preseason training. He wasn't expected to be cleared in time for the season opener but a full return was certainly in the cards.

He was forced to wait until January 14 when the team hosted SUNY Purchase and, despite only playing one minute in the contest, Max was just happy to be on the court with his teammates.

"We knew he may not have the same explosiveness or same first step as before, but his desire for the game, and ability to shoot the ball would be needed down the stretch," said Coach Spann.

"Through it all, Max had lost some confidence but I tried to remind him he came too far to not believe now and in his second game back he came out versus Sage College and scored 11 points in nine minutes including a few huge three-pointers." 

"There were a lot of days I was scared to do something during my rehab in fear of hurting myself again and it took me a long time to be comfortable," added DeMartino, who credits his faith in God as a vital crutch during his recovery. "I had every opportunity to quit, but I came back because I didn't want to end my career that way. I just wanted to be back with the team, back with the guys I came in with."

Max also wanted to give thanks to those who supported him through his most difficult times. For him, getting back on the court was a tip of the hat to his support system.

"It almost brings me to tears some days, thinking about the support I received," said DeMartino. "I can't say enough about Coach Spann, who's been more than a coach. He's been my psychologist and my friend. He believed in me and gave me tremendous support.

"My teammates texted me every day to check up on me, and of course my family and the SJC athletic training staff, Lisa, Kevin and Meagan, were amazing. I wouldn't have been able to come back without any of them and that was one of the major reasons I wanted to come back, to say thank you, it was all worth it."

On Valentine's Day Max and fellow seniors Andy Laurent, Dan Nappi and Fernando Vazquez were honored in a pregame Senior Day ceremony prior to a Golden Eagles' victory that clinched a playoff berth. He'd come full circle and received the curtain call he deserved.    

Come May, Max will graduate with a degree in biology and plans to enroll in Stony Brook University's physical therapy doctorate program, leaving college basketball behind. Though the goal of his rehab was mainly to get back on the court, there was a whole lot Max can take away from these life-changing experiences.

"The biggest thing I've learned through this whole process is it's easy when things get difficult to have a poor attitude, but it's important to look at the blessing in everything.

"I was pushed to my limits, emotionally and physically, but told myself every day that things could be worse. I could have been dead or paralyzed and now I've got to make the most out of what I have. That was my approach during rehab and now it's my approach to everything."