Linebacker Collins Continues Battle to Triumph Over Tragedy

Danny Collins didn’t know what to do when he saw a Culver City High teammate arguing with a man brandishing a handgun.

“I just stood there for about 25 to 30 seconds in shock,” said Collins, a linebacker who had just finished competing in a summer passing league game at the school.

As Collins turned to walk away, the gunman fired a shot, striking Collins in the back of his left leg.

“I shouted, ‘He hit me, he hit me,’ and fell to the ground,” Collins said. “I felt an incredible burning sensation like I’ve never felt before. I lost focus and passed out.”

The bullet from the .40-caliber handgun shattered Collins’ fibula into three pieces and ricocheted off his tibia before exiting the front of his leg.

Authorities are still searching for a suspect in the July 16, 1992, shooting.

Doctors told Collins, who was preparing for his senior season at the time of the shooting, that he might not walk again, let alone play.

“He’ll never be 100% again, but he is lucky, a very lucky kid,” said Stephen Paulseth, Collins’ physical therapist.

Surgery was performed to repair ruptured blood vessels, but doctors were unable to set Collins’ fibula, a non-weight-bearing bone, because it had shattered into too many pieces. Collins also suffered nerve damage, which resulted in paralysis on the top portion of his foot.

During the two months his leg was in a cast, the 5-foot-11 Collins lost 30 pounds off his 200-pound frame. He went through three months of extensive physical rehabilitation and began walking in late October.

Collins, an Ocean League first-team selection as a junior, never played a down as a senior.

“There was a lot of hemorrhaging and scar tissue,” Paulseth said. “The prognosis isn’t wonderful. Nerves don’t regenerate and his condition will decline with time. . . . He didn’t show it, but he was very depressed and emotional when he didn’t get to play. He would just go off and pump iron.”

But Collins, 18, was determined to continue his playing career. He built his weight up to 210 pounds and decided to try out for the Santa Monica College team, where he was reunited with former Culver City coach Lou Lichtl, who resigned in June to become a Corsair assistant.

Although Collins made it through spring drills and summer conditioning, he wasn’t quite ready to don football pads in September.

“It’s been a long time,” Collins said. “I can still tell I have a long ways to go.”

But Collins’ hard work paid off, as he earned a spot on the team. The Corsairs are 2-4.

“We were aware of him from his junior year and when we heard he was going to come back and try to play, we went after him,” said Santa Monica assistant Rowen Tupuivao, who recruited Collins.

Collins still has a hairline fracture in his tibia and wears a brace on the heavily taped ankle. Getting the leg in shape hasn’t been easy.

“There wasn’t excruciating pain, but my leg was very tender and sore,” Collins said. “I had to ice it every night. I noticed a slight hesitancy because of my leg . . . I wasn’t sure if my leg would hold up.”

Collins commutes daily to Santa Monica from his father’s home in Placentia, but the opportunity to play is worth the 90-minute drive.

“I feel bitter for what I had to go through and I’m still angry,” Collins said. “It’ll never be forgotten, but I got a second chance. I thought all was lost and I was never going to play ball again.”