gross?!.....Phillies prospect Matt Imhof loses right eye in freak accident.....

[RAMd®d]

I hope he has people around him that he can be honest with if/when the low feelings hit him.

Agreed.

He has some significant challenges ahead. Maybe it will be a matter of if and not when. I hope so.

On a related note, I found The Daily News' use of "crushed like a grape" in the headline to be typical of cheap tabloid click bait and thoughtless.

[freeradical]

I think that "popped like a zit" would have been a better headline.

[RAMd®d]

I think that "popped like a zit" would have been a better headline.

Of course you would.

[Speedy]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=rgG]
Wow, that is just awful. Glad he has such a positive attitude.

I'm sure his attitude is buoyed by the likelihood that the manufacturer of that sports equipment (and probably also the Phillies organization) will be making a HUGE contribution to his early retirement fund in the form of a lawsuit settlement.
Possibly. Workers comp will limit the Phillies liability. The manufacturer of the sports equipment will pay more than the Phillies.

[Janit]

silvarios wrote:
[quote=Janit]
[quote=silvarios]
That's awful. My condolences to the young man. As already noted, glad he can bounce back and realize he still has a lot of life left to live.

Don't be fooled by these statements. It is perhaps good that he is able to say these things, but that does not necessarily make them emotionally true. He is in for a long difficult adjustment -- losing an eye and a career at the same time is a heavy blow, and this kind of stress affects people, no matter how "strong" they are. He may even come to resent the need to put on an optimistic face for the public. The need to pretend strength in the face of pain can be very stressful in itself, and often makes the pain worse than it would be otherwise. I hope he has people around him that he can be honest with if/when the low feelings hit him.
Sure. People have stages of grief. I'm just hoping he realizes he can be an inspiration to many people and is able to keep the positivity going.
But this idea in itself is problematic. Matt Imhof's job now is to make a life for himself. Why does his new disability also impose the additional burden of being "positive" in order to "inspire others"? Why does he now have a duty to inspire the able-bodied? Why can't he simply be himself. I know such statements are meant to be helpful, but they often make things worse.

For a view on "inspiration" and "inspiration porn" see this TED talk by Stella young:

http://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_...anguage=en

[silvarios]

Then he can wallow in misery and do nothing? Look, the very act of overcoming tragedy is inspirational for those who think they have to walk such a path alone. They don't and here is a very public someone struggling through the same kind of burden. Being realistic about the hardships is not negative; however, refusing to make the best is actively harmful. I like his attitude thus far.

[Speedy]

Seems like something similar happened to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid except he didn't lose an eye.

[Janit]

silvarios wrote:
Then he can wallow in misery and do nothing? Look, the very act of overcoming tragedy is inspirational for those who think they have to walk such a path alone. They don't and here is a very public someone struggling through the same kind of burden. Being realistic about the hardships is not negative; however, refusing to make the best is actively harmful. I like his attitude thus far.

You talk as though "refusing to make the best" is an obstinate act of will for which a person in pain should be criticized. When people are hit with the pain of such an adjustment, they always make the best of it that they can, but their "best" is very often unsatisfactory to those on the outside, who think the suffering person "should" somehow do better than they are capable of.

[silvarios]

Janit wrote:
[quote=silvarios]
Then he can wallow in misery and do nothing? Look, the very act of overcoming tragedy is inspirational for those who think they have to walk such a path alone. They don't and here is a very public someone struggling through the same kind of burden. Being realistic about the hardships is not negative; however, refusing to make the best is actively harmful. I like his attitude thus far.

You talk as though "refusing to make the best" is an obstinate act of will for which a person in pain should be criticized. When people are hit with the pain of such an adjustment, they always make the best of it that they can, but their "best" is very often unsatisfactory to those on the outside, who think the suffering person "should" somehow do better than they are capable of.
The entire train of thought is a straw man. We are admiring his attitude as currently shown. No one is suggesting he should do something he hasn't already done. The suggestion people are tearing a guy down for not living up to some arbitrary state of mind isn't true. He's the one that made the comments about persevering through adversity. Which is why people are taking note and saying, "Hey, that's pretty swell for a guy who suffered a horrifying injury."

[Janit]

Please consider evaluating the content of what I've said rather than taking it as a personal attack.

This is often how it goes -- some people respond positively to trauma at the beginning because the reality has not yet set in. When it does they may go negative, eliciting criticism for failing to maintain a positive attitude, which ends up making it worse.

I am simply asking people here to engage with the actual complexity of people's response to trauma. And to recognize that people experienceing trauma often respond in totally unexpected ways.