A New Beginning: Long Beach teen Alessandro Apuzzo walks out of Miller Hospital

Standout Long Beach water polo athlete Alessandro “Sandro” Apuzzo took his first steps out of the Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital with friends, family and hospital staff cheering him on outside the hospital — just in time for Thanksgiving. 

Apuzzo walked out with a smile on his face, shaking everyone’s hand who came to support him and cracking jokes as he walked outside the Miller hospital. He was finally headed home.

“It’s a validation for all that hard work, it’s a testament to his courage and determination,” said Jacqueline Apuzzo, Alessandro’s mother. “It’s also another stepping stone. He’s going to move on and do more things; it’s a new beginning.”

The 15-year-old Wilson High School student was inside the water at Peninsula Beach with friends on the Fourth of July and struck his head on the sandbank while trying to dive. He was rushed to the hospital with a spinal cord injury and multiple burst fractures. 

Jose Santos Loria, Alessandro’s father, said doctors believed Apuzzo’s sports background saved him from being completely paralyzed.

“He is very fortunate because he was an athlete before and that has really helped him moving forward,” said Kimberly BeDell, the Medical Director of Pediatric Rehab and board-certified spinal cord medicine physician. “We’re fortunate to have seen him come from a quadriplegic with only moving a little bit of his leg to now walking with a walker.”

During the Fourth of July accident, his friends and present lifeguards quickly responded to get him out of the water and to safety.

“I was the first one to see the event and when I saw him struggling in the water, instinct kicked in just because we trained and prepared for this a lot,” said Isabella Shead, who has been a part of the Long Beach Fire Department Lifeguards for four years. “Seeing someone struggle, you don’t really think about it. You just respond before you think about what’s happening, so I started running in and pulled him out immediately.” 

“I chose the right friends,” Apuzzo said, remembering his friends rushing in to save him. “I have a great inner circle and I would never in one million lifetimes choose another one. I just love my friends a lot.”

Apuzzo’s sports background more than just saved him from further damage; it pushed him through rehabilitation. The 15-year-old athlete said his injured condition encouraged him to continue progressing.

“I always kept in the back of my mind that I don’t want to be in this wheelchair for the rest of my life,” Apuzzo said. “Whenever I’d get tired, I didn’t want to do it anymore, it’s like, ‘Do you want to be like this for the rest of your life? Do you want to be dependent on people?’ The answer is always no, so I just kept pushing.”

Wiley Haga, a lifeguard for the Long Beach Fire Department, said he grew up alongside the Apuzzo family and played water polo with Apuzzo’s older brother. He said Sandro is the funniest kid ever, and that he always smiles and goofs around.

“When I first visited him in the hospital, what I thought would be a somber and quiet moment, he was immediately energetic, full of life and you couldn’t even tell that he went through this based on his behavior alone,” Haga said. 

“Having a C-Spine injury can be a devastating one and it can alter your life forever and the progress that he’s made in a relatively short amount of time is nothing short of spectacular,” Haga shared. “Seeing him walk, it brought a tear to my eye. Seeing him like that, words can’t describe it truly. It’s just been an amazing thing to witness.” 

Apuzzo’s father said the staff at Miller’s helped them see the light with their encouragement. 

“From the moment he came to the hospital, the emergency room, the trauma team has continued to follow him,” Jacqueline Apuzzo said. “From day to day, there’s just some incredible nursing care staff here on this unit. I think that Alessandro and us as a family really admire their dedication and really appreciate them.

While there are unknowns about what the future holds for the standout water polo athlete, Apuzzo persists. 

“Even though it looks like there’s no hope, there’s always a dim light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “There’s always an end to the journey, there’s always hope for the better.”