By Amanda McGregor
SALEM — In 1986, Todd Gandolfo was a 17-year-old senior at Salem High School who loved sports, water skiing and his friends. He had been accepted into the Air Force, which he planned to enter after graduation.
In an instant, however, all that changed. A freak accident in gym class left him with a brain injury and landed him in a wheelchair, immobile and unable to speak.
Twenty-two-and-a-half years later, his family is hosting a fundraiser in Salem on Sunday, to raise money for communication equipment for local people with brain injuries.
"The equipment is for people who can't communicate with their mouth," said Judy Gandolfo, Todd's mother.
The equipment, called EagleEyes, uses technology that allows people to move a computer cursor with their eyes or head to run software programs and communicate.
Judy Gandolfo aims to raise enough money to buy portable EagleEyes units, which Hogan Regional Center in Danvers has agreed to house, she said.
"If we could have a few (units) in the area, it would be wonderful for the brain-injured of the North Shore," she said.
Todd, who turned 40 last week, was silenced by his brain injury, but when he participated in trials of the EagleEyes equipment in 2001, he successfully used it to draw pictures, play tic-tac-toe and complete a word identification task.
His mother still has the printouts, proof of those successes.
"In the last few years, the equipment has become so sophisticated," she said. "It can do the most unbelievable things."
A nightmarish accident
Matt and Judy Gandolfo lived on Barnes Circle in Salem, where they raised their four children, and Todd was the baby of the family.
Matt, who died in 1997, ran Matt Gandolfo's Barber Shop in Lynn; Judy Gandolfo is a retired preschool teacher.
She will never forget the day everything changed, Nov. 6, 1986.
Todd was in gym class, and the students were playing a game called "fleece ball," she said, using a heavy metal bat to hit a fleece ball.
Todd was up next when the bat slipped from the hands of a student who was swinging and struck Todd in the chest. He stopped breathing.
"Like a javelin, it went into my son's heart — into his chest," Judy said.
CPR revived him, but it was too late. His brain had been deprived of oxygen.
Todd spent three weeks in a coma at Salem Hospital, coming out of it on Thanksgiving Day. He has since undergone rehabilitation, physical therapy, occupational therapy and more. The family filed a lawsuit against the city that was settled out of court.
Judy said that family and community support carried them through.
"It was devastating," she said, "but we're very, very fortunate to have a lot of support. ... Even some of Todd's friends still keep in touch and occasionally visit."
Adapting to a new life
Judy Gandolfo, 69, has since moved into senior housing in Peabody, in a unit next door to her sister.
For 14 years, Todd has lived at the Radius Healthcare Center, a Danvers nursing home, where Judy has visited him every day.
"He is in a wheelchair, and he is tube-fed," said his mother, "but he has the brightest eyes you've ever seen."
Todd lit up when he saw his mother yesterday afternoon, and she showered him with hugs and kisses.
"He loves music and TV," Judy said, "and he laughs appropriately and cries appropriately."
Todd's favorite television show is "Two and a Half Men," and he is a die-hard Red Sox and Patriots fan, evidenced by sports posters papered around his room. He appreciates a good joke, especially when the nurses crack a racy one.
"He is like a brother to everyone here," said Ann MacDonald, business manager at Radius for the last decade.
Todd goes to a day program in Danvers, but he can't take part in many of the activities, like bowling. This, in part, has inspired his mother to organize Sunday's fundraiser for the portable EagleEyes units, which cost about $1,200 apiece, to help people like her son draw, play computer games and communicate.
"He loves watching people and watching movies," said his mother, "but this would provide more."
The Friends of Hathorne is sponsoring the fundraiser, and the Hawthorne Hotel donated its grand ballroom. Many of the Gandolfos' friends and family members will be there, including Todd's siblings, Mike Gandolfo, Rhonda Dykes and Lisa Chase, as well as his nephew and five nieces.
There will be music by DJ Bob Moffet, raffles, a silent auction and a demonstration of the EagleEyes equipment, which was created by Boston College students, faculty and staff.
Auction items will include Red Sox tickets, CoCo Key passes and a $400 collector's Barbie.
In June, Todd is set to move to a group home in Danvers, where he'll be with other people his age.
Want to go?
Event: Fundraiser for EagleEyes, an eye control system for people with disabilities
Where: Hawthorne Hotel, Salem
When: Sunday, April 26, 2 to 7 p.m.
Cost: $12 adults; $5 children; free for children under 5
Donations: To donate, checks may be made to Friends of Hathorne, with "EagleEyes" in the memo line, and mailed to Judy Gandolfo, 46 Connolly Terrace, Peabody, MA 01960.
