“I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST THING, ESPECIALLY FOR ME, BECAUSE ITS TAKEN ME SO MUCH WORK TO EVEN GET TO BEING HERE. THERE’S SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT MY LIFE I SHOULDN’T HAVE SURVIVED.”
THAT WAS LOGAN GOULD, A MEMBER OF THE CODY BRONC BAND, ATTENDS HEART MOUNTAIN ACADEMY AND IS LOOKING FORWARD TO GRADUATING THIS SPRING, BUT IT HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN EASY FOR THE FUTURE GRADUATE. WHEN LOGAN WAS JUST ENTERING FIRST GRADER HE CONTRACTED WES NILE VIRUS THAT LED TO A TUMOR ON HIS SPINE. THE COMPLEX CYST FORMED FROM A COLLECTION OF SPINAL FLUID THAT WAS CRUSHING HIS SPINAL CORD, PUSHED ON IT, MADE THE SPINAL CORD NOT WORK, PROGRESSIVELY PARALYZING HIM.
“IT REALLY DIDN’T START AFFECTING ME UNTIL ABOUT AUGUST OF MY JUNIOR YEAR. I STARTED HAVING SOME BACK PROBLEMS, WAS ALSO DEALING WITH SOME LUNG PROBLEMS AT THE SAME TIME SO WE (FAMILY) WERE WERE LIKE ‘OH IT’S COMPLICATIONS WITH THAT,’ BUT THEN WHEN I CLEARED UP MY LUNG PROBLEMS I STILL HAD THE LEG PAIN AND WE COULDN’T FIGURE IT OUT. I WOULD JUST BASICALLY STAY HOME, LAY IN MY BED, MINIMIZE HOW MUCH I WAS WALKING. I WOULD LAY DOWN IN MY BED FOR HOURS. I’D BARELY EVER GET UP, I’D BARELY EVER DO ANYTHING.”
IT IS BELIEVED THE CYST FORMED DUE TO A HOLE THAT NEVER HEALED FROM BEING POKED BY A NEEDLE TO CURE THE WEST NILE VIRUS. AFTER MONTHS OF HE AND HIS FAMILY SEEING SEVERAL DOCTORS WHO SAID IT WAS LEG PAIN, ONE DAY THEY WENT IN AND A PROPER DIAGNOSIS WAS MADE.
“WE FOUND ONE DOCTOR HERE IN TOWN WHO SAID ‘HEY LETS GET AN MRI, A CT SCAN OF YOUR SPINE,’ AND THEY FOUND THAT LITTLE HOLE THAT’D BEEN THERE FOR MANY YEARS. IT NEVER REALLY WENT DETECTED, HAD GROWN AND IT WAS JUST PUSHING ON MY SPINE. WE DID A LITTLE BIT OF TRIALS TO MAKE SURE IT WASN’T SOMETHING SERIOUS, WHAT KIND OF CYST IT WAS, HOW BAD IT WAS. THEN IN DECEMBER, TWO YEARS AGO AT THIS POINT, I WENT IN AND I HAD A SURGERY WHERE THEY HAD TO REMOVE ONE OF THE BONES ON MY SPINE AND GET RID OF IT.”
DUE TO THE COMPLEX NATURE OF THE SURGERY AND RECOVERY LOGAN HAD TO MISS AN ENTIRE SEMESTER OF SCHOOL. IN ORDER TO GRADUATE ON-TIME HE ENROLLED AT HEART MOUNTAIN ACADEMY WHICH PUT HIM ON THE FAST TRACK TO GRADUATE THIS YEAR.
“BECAUSE THERE’S ONLY 30-SOMETHING KIDS WITH 18 SENIORS BEING THE BIGGEST CLASS, YOU GOT TO KNOW THE TEACHERS MORE, YOU GOT A MORE PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE. IF YOU NEEDED HELP ON SOMETHING YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO WAIT. FOR ME IT WAS JUST AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE LIKE ‘HEY I WANT TO GRADUATE SOONER.’ I WANT TO GRADUATE WITH MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY. ALL MY PEOPLE I CONSIDER FAMILY. MOST ACCEPTING GROUP OF PEOPLE I’VE EVER MET.”
EVEN DURING THIS TIME OF UNCERTAINTY LOGAN IS MAKING THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION, RIDING HIS BIKE EVERYWHERE HE GOES.
“I WILL JUST HOP ON MY BIKE. I WILL RIDE UNTIL MY BODY SAYS STOP AND THEN JUST RIDE BACK BECAUSE I’VE BEEN TRYING TO JUST MAKE THE BEST OUT OF THIS SITUATION THAT WE’VE GOT.”
LOGAN, WHO PLAYS THE EUPHONIUM IN BAND, SAYS BEING A PART OF THE CODY BRONC BAND HAS BEEN LIKE ANOTHER FAMILY FOR HIM.
“SOMETHING A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE BAND IS YOU ARE A PART OF A FAMILY. IF SOMETHING DOES HAPPEN TO YOU, YOU HAVE THAT FULL FAMILY OF PEOPLE TO FALL BACK ON. LIKE ME, WHEN I WAS TAKEN OUT OF SCHOOL WHEN I HAD TO DROP OUT FOR A FEW MONTHS. I WAS REALLY LONELY ON MY BIRTHDAY AND I JUST TEXTED MY SECTION LEADER ‘HEY CAN I GET A BIRTHDAY MESSAGE JUST FROM A COUPLE OF MY RHYTHM BAND.’ THEN AN HOUR OR TWO LATER I GET A VIDEO RECORDING OF THE ENTIRE BAND JUST SINGING ME HAPPY BIRTHDAY.”
LOGAN GOES ON TO SHARE HIS FAVORITE MEMORY FROM HIS TIME AS A MEMBER OF THE BAND.
“IT WAS A TRIP WE TOOK LAST YEAR. WE WENT DOWN TO DENVER COLORADO. THE BAND AND THE CHOIR. MY BEST FRIEND IS A CHOIR KID AND SO WE JUST HUNG OUT AND WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME. WE WENT TO A THEME PARK, WE RODE RIDES. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. AGAIN, IT WAS THE BAND CONNECTION BECAUSE YOU GOT TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF PEOPLE, YOU GOT TO HANG OUT.”
LOGAN GOULD WILL BE A MEMBER OF THE 2020 GRADUATING CLASS THIS SPRING. STAY TUNED TO THE BIG HORN RADIO NETWORK FOR MORE ON CODY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS.
