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Passink breaks after ,a ball against Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Scott Passlnk Is surrounded by his University of Michigan memorabilia.
Pitro by cHARLIE cORTEZ
South Lyon freshman works to overcome handicap
By Scott Sigler
•
it was a drive to right field.
The Ann Arbor Pioneer batter
came around quickly on the South
Lyon fastball. The line drive took off
with a ‘CTh.dC and zipped over the
second baseman’s. head, coming
down hi the outfield betore bouncing
back up on its rocket path.
One bounce was all the ball had
time to make, The right fielder
launched his body horizontally, his
hat flying off as he reached his, left
armouttoknock down tltebali before
his body crashed awkwardly to the
ground.
The center fielder was there as the
ball devoid of momentum. rolled
casually past the prone right fielder,
The throw to the Infield came In well
behind the batter, and eyes turned to
watch
himrightfielderwas
hit second standing
Butthe
stillonup,
the
ground. He slowly stnig,gled to rise
from the turf and getback into position, but it was taking far too long.
The coach remained in the dugout.
and the fans were apathetic to the
young man’s efforts- far in the
• outfield,
No onecarrie out to scetf hewas in•
jured The young man finally Fe,
gained his feet and walked back to
his position. stopping only topickup
his cap before the bailgame was on
again.
Thcyoung mon wasScottPasslak,
a South Lyon freshman, He was not
injured: the coach and thefana didn’t
rush to see ifhe was all right because
the struggle to simply stand up is a
daily occurrence for Passlnlc, who
suffers from cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy (CP)ls descjibed by
limited use of his legs and his right
aim — he Is legally considered a liithat results from direct or indirect pleglc. Passink’s condition cant on
damage to the motor centers of the~. shortly after birth, although It was
bral&before or during birth.
dyer a year before his parents heard
‘Cerebral palsy Is a non- the numbing diagnosis.
progressive central neurological conS
‘Scotty was born perfect,’ said
dition,’ said Dr. Donald Wild, the Mary Pasaink, Scott’S mother. ‘AX S
specialist who works with Passink. months he wasn’t situng up. At 9
‘Scott’s muscles tend tobe too tight.’ months his reflea~schanged. It took
The tightness of his muscles gives us until he was 15 months to get a
himlinilted useof his limbs, and Pas’ diagnosis on him, and at 15 months
sink is able towalk only from various they toldusmoreorless he was going
operations.
to be a vegetable,’
‘Ashegrowsandhlsbonesgetlon’ • Thanks to surgery —-Passink has
get It Is difficult to keep the muscles been In the hospital for operations
stretched to the proper length,’ WIld nine times in his l5years—he can
said. ‘We go through stages where it walk and enjoys a good deal ofmobilIs difficult to walk and then we have ity, But the doctor’s knife is seconto lengthen tendons or re-align dory to Passink’s desire to do everything he can to lead a normal life,
bones.’
‘Everything he does Is a major anIn Passinic. the Ci’ has given him
Webster’s Dictionary as a disability
eompllshnrnt to us because they ‘ftopea said that Passiñk’s contribusaid he’d never do anything,’ Maiy tion went far beyond typical baseball
Passlnlc said. ‘Scotty has so much skills,
determination. Ifyoutell him hecan’t
The main reason Scotty played
do something he’ll gorightout and do was not so much for him but for the
It.
team,’ Ttopea said. ‘I’ve beth doing
It Is that sante determination that .thlsfor25yearsandyou have tolook
put Scott Passink on the baseball atwhat a kid brings ta the table, The
field this season. Pasaink was a ba- •team was better off with Scotty than
sketball manager for -Dave Sodir- without hint’
quist this winter, where his work
While it Is haul for some of the
ethic drew the attentionofbasketboll players — whom Scott describes as
statistician and freshman baseball ‘normal’ — to sit the bench while he
coach Tony Ttopea. Pásslnk asked plays, Passink only wishes he. had
Inipea if he could play, and lYopea the same opportunities as the kids
who sitwith him in the dugout. He Is
put him on the squad.
‘Just being on the team was the sun’ounded by athleticlsm — from
greatest thing.’ Passink said. ‘I’ve his friends to his father, Peter Pasgotten so much out oUt. Mr. ‘flopea sink, a former U ofM golfer, to his sis’
gave me the chance to do it.’ Pas- ter Shauna Passinic,
Scott is an avid fan of his sister,
sink’s physical condition obviously
limits his on’fleld performance, but
Continued as 2
• NEIGHBORS
$outh -Lyon-- re&dent hangs up
badge to pursue new venture
By LeAnne Rogers
Aftera longand exciting law enforcement career, South Lyon it’
sident IA, John Shewell has
turned in his badgeto tiy his hand
at a new venture.
Shewell has spent 28 years
with the Michigan State [blice,
muchofthat time assigned tonarcotics units. He retired last month
totake a security-related position
with General Dynamics, where
he’s looking for a new experience
in the private sector.
‘I had an exciting career and
there have been a lot ofthIngs I’ve
been involved with.’ said Sheweti,
a Lansing native who joined the
state police in 1964
After spending two years assigned to road patrol at he Bay
City post. Sheweli worked a vail-
ety of assignments around the
metro area, moving in and out of
undercover narcotics assignments during the late ‘SOs.
itwas a generation of add tripping. Everyone was laying stuff,’
he said. ‘The drugs of choicv at
that time were heroin, LW and
marijuana. Hallucinogens and
hashish were heavy back then.’
When the Oakland CountyNarcotics Enforcement Team was
formed In t971, Shewell was assigned asa crew leader, anassignment he also had later with the
Downa-Iver Narcotics Unit,
‘The drug dealers appear to be
wiserorreally. more sophisticated
today,’ he said. ‘Drugs have always been a htg money business,
That’s what makes it Impossible
to stop. You can make a fortune
doing that, fyou get caught, your
chances of doing life In prison arc
great.’
One benefit Shewell sees from
stiller penalties tied to quanities of
drugs is that dealers are hesitant
to sell larger amounts of controlled substances,
‘I’ve heardotherssaythatdrug
dealers are more violent now, but
a lot ofpeople have been hurt because ofthis,’ he said. ‘A lotof officers have been hurt and
maimed, I’ve had officers shot.
thrown outa second storywindow
arid hit by cars,’
Back In 1969, he said he was
rnaldrrg undercover heroin buys
at Harrison and Carlisle in
Inkster,
‘The vogue was to have a hired
bodyguard at the drug houses
with a shotgun.’ Shewell said,
‘When you went in. he would rack
the shotgun toget yourattention.’
During an era of civil unrest
and anti-war protests, Shewell’s
undercover work sometimes
placed himon the receiving end of
tear gas fired by police.
‘The riots In Detroit spread to
Ecorse and River Rouge. Some of
the time I was working narcotics
there,’ he said, ‘If you are buying
dope or something and everyone
is throwing rocks.at the cops, you
get the gas with them,’
When the• Western Wayne
County Narcotics Enforcement
Team was formed In 1986,
Shewell received a promotion to
lieutenant and was placed In
charge of the unit, I-Ic had a basic
mission statement for officers assigned to the regional unit.
‘If people were involved in the
narcotics trade, myjob was to Innitrate them and make a case that
would lead to a successful arrest
Continued on 4
Lt, John Shewell has give up police work after 26 years