Roy Campanella

Diagnoses

Vocation

Notable

American athlete, a baseball catcher who led the field in his day. He began his career as a hard-hitting catcher in old Negro Leagues before following Jackie Robinson across the color barrier to join the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948. He had a World Series triumph in 1955 and was named Most Valuable Player three times. Early in the morning of 1/28/1958, Campanella had an auto accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He never lost his boyish enthusiasm and the smile that inspired others. Campanella became a coach in a wheelchair, for nearly two decades the spring-training instructor for the Los Angeles Dodgers. For 35 years, Campanella worked with the handicapped from his wheelchair. After the accident, his marriage dissolved and his house was sold to pay bills. Later, in 1963, he married a former nurse. He doted on his five kids. Died of a heart attack on 6/26/1993 at his home in Woodland Hills, CA. Link to Wikipedia biography