Hometown Livin g At Its Best 53
On July 7th, Britt was finally stabilized enough to be
moved to Shepherds Center in Atlanta, one of the top
rehabilitation hospitals in the nation for spinal cord and
brain injury. “I went from dunking basketballs to learning
how to live in a wheelchair,” said Britt. “It was pretty tough
to deal with. I’d played sports my whole life.”
Confinement to a wheelchair was not nearly as
frustrating for him as being confined to the four walls of a
hospital room. Even with a halo attached by pins drilled
into his skull and held in place with rods fastened to a vest,
Britt learned to maneuver his wheelchair outside. “There’s a
tunnel between Shepherds and Piedmont Hospital, and one
of the things they wanted you to be able to do was to get
from one place to the other through that tunnel,” said Britt.
The accomplishment was also his escape. On more
than one occasion, the hospital had to send someone out to
search for him. Once the bones in his neck had sufficiently
healed, the halo was removed. On October 4, four months
after his accident, Britt returned home.
Exactly five years later, he left his mother’s home to live
on his own. “I was already working with computers and
decided to go to Southeastern Technical College to get my
degree in Computer Science,” which is also where he met
his wife Janna, an Instructor in the Nursing School at that
time. Britt and Janna married in 2004. A year later, Britt
started his own business, Tabor Computer Solutions.
In 2008, Britt was once again in the hospital. But this
time, he was there for the birth of his son Brittan. Britt was
overwhelmed by the fact that he was now a father. “It didn’t
really hit me until the moment I saw him.”
I glanced at the table across the room where some dozen
or so photographs were displayed. “When did you realize
how good your son was at sports?” I asked.
He smiled broadly. “He had barely learned to walk when
I started throwing the ball to him. It didn’t matter where I
threw it, if it was anywhere close, Brittan would hit it and
hit it hard.”
As soon as Brittan was old enough, Britt signed him up
to play ball. Most kids at that young age play for the proud
grandparents and parents to take pictures and praise their
efforts. Not Brittan. Even then, it was obvious that he had
his father’s gift. From t-ball to coach-pitch, and pitching
machine, Brittan continued to hone his athletic skills. He
also played basketball and football and made All-Stars every
season in both baseball and football. In his first live-pitch
tournament, he was nominated MVP.
Even though Brittan played all three sports well, it was
his talent on the baseball field that got the attention of
traveling teams in the area. “The first travel team he played
on was for Coach Nathan Lamb with One On One Sports
when he was seven-years-old,” said Britt. “He’s playing
with three different traveling teams right now: Octane in
Lyons, Bomb Squad, which is a team of players from Vidalia
and Lyons, and the Tigers with Great Day 4 Baseball in
Savannah. Brittan’s coach last year at RTCA, Ty Mingle,
suggested he try out for Great Day 4 Baseball. TJ Lonon,
Brittan’s coach, is amazing. His goal is to prepare the boys
to play college ball.”
Living At Its Best 37