Paraplegic 'Matt the Cat' completes his long road to graduation at USU

By Coreena Payne

May 5, 2005 | Tumbling was Matt Maw's life. Every day after school, Maw went to the gym to practice his tumbling passes and trampoline tricks. He never missed a day. He hardly went on dates, hung out with friends, watched television or spent extra time on his homework. All his spare time went to the gymnastics gym.

Maw would fly down the long gymnastic mats completing his layouts, double fulls, double pikes, double back flips and triple back flips. His body was pure muscle from his head down to his toes. There was nothing, Maw was afraid to try.

When Maw was 12, he spent hours in his aunt's gymnastics class. His mom had to work every day, so he followed his aunt to her class after school. He started learning with the other tumbling students on a small panel mat and one crash pad. On his first day he learned how to do a back handspring, which takes most people at least a month or more to learn.

Maw continued taking classes and after two months he learned how to do a series of back handsprings across the floor. He started taking another tumbling class, but didn't like his coach, so he quit. Two years later, when the coach decided to quit, Maw decided he wanted to start taking classes again.

From eighth grade on, Maw started learning more tricks, took tumbling more seriously and spent all his time at the gym. Once he learned how to do a full, where his body stayed straight and twisted in the air, he said, he didn't have trouble learning anything.

Once he mastered his routines, he competed in several competitions all over the United States. He won many state championships and went on to compete in many national championships. Maw went to Portugal and placed 12th in the Double-Mini Trampoline. In Canada, he placed fourth in the Double-Mini Trampoline, ninth in Tumbling and 17th in the Trampoline. Maw also spent time in Japan where he placed first in the Senior Elite Double-Mini Trampoline and won two silvers in Synchronized Trampoline.

In 1996, Maw used his talent for entertainment and became Weber State's mascot. He spent many hours as the wildcat at football games and basketball games. Maw would jump from a large trampoline in the middle of the court, flip toward the basketball hoop and make a basket with a basketball. Everyone knew Maw as "Matt the Cat."

Maw spent one year as the cat and ended it to go on an LDS mission to Brazil. When he returned after two years, he tried out to be the cat again. He started, in 1999, winning the hearts of the crowd once again.

He continued to go to the gym and practice his tumbling more and more. He was working on his triple back flip with his coach. His goal was to work hard every day to learn and perfect his hardest tricks.

Maw's challenge came when he tried to learn his triple back flip. He would do them everywhere, on the trampoline, on different types of mats and into a pit of foam mats. Once he felt comfortable and landed them perfectly, he tried them on the floor.

"We all counted and I fell 23 times on my head," Maw said.

When he fell the 24th time, he knew he was done with his tricks. Maw was practicing his triple back flip like he always had, but this time he wasn't as fortunate. He didn't just get up and try it again. He fell right on the back of his head and couldn't get up.

"I just fell in the right spot . . . or the wrong?" Maw said.

He lay on the ground.

"Lance, I can't move. Call my mom, my dad, tell my cheer coach I can't come to the game, I have to take a chemistry test tomorrow," Maw yelled to his coach standing two feet away. Then shock took over. Once Maw got into the ambulance and the EMT started to talk to him, he began to respond.

The EMT was creating small talk to get Maw's mind off the accident. When he asked Maw what he wanted to be when he finished school, Maw thought he would be funny and said, "I want to be a paraplegic."

The EMT, looked at Maw, didn't think it was funny and quickly changed the subject.

Once Maw got to the hospital to see a doctor the news came fast. Maw broke two vertebrates in his spine, C-4 and C-5, which meant in most cases that he wasn't going to be able to move anything below his chest ever again. He was considered a quadriplegic. Maw said, after he heard the bad news, he realized how right he was, when he said he wanted to be a paraplegic.

The doctors and psychiatrists kept warning Maw's parents to watch him for depression, hatred, anger and blaming everyone for his accident. They said he was fortunate that he didn't break his C-3 vertebrae, because that could have stopped his breathing.

Maw said he is still waiting for the day when he will be angry and blame everyone. He wakes up every day with a smile on his face and ready to start the new day.

"What's the point of being an angry, unhappy grouch when you can't change the way things are?" Maw said.

He will graduate Saturday at Utah State University witha bachelor's degree in statistics with a minor in Portuguese. He hopes to become a sports statistician for any team, but his dream would be to work for the New York Yankees. Maw also wants to find a nice young woman to be his wife and help raise a good family.

Paula Limburg, Maw's mom, had to quit her job in order to take care of him. Limburg said it has been a challenge for her, but she has learned a lot from it. One thing that makes it easier, she said, is Maw's great attitude. His grandmother used to always tell his family that, "you can laugh or cry, but crying gives you a headache." Limburg said the accident has been harder for her than it has for him.

"As a mother it's hard for me to see him suffer so much. I would trade him places in a heart beat, just so he didn't have to suffer and I would never wish this upon my worst enemy," Limburg said.

She has been through several hard times with her children. Along with Maw's broken neck, her daughter tore her ACL two times and had a detached retina, her other son also tore his ACL and her youngest son broke his wrist. Not to mention the urinary tract infections, kidney stones, dislocated shoulder and muscle spasms along with other complications that Maw has suffered through. Limburg said it's her purpose in life to make other people feel good about their own lives.

In life, she said, you either give all that you have, a little portion of what you have or give nothing at all. The contribution she remembers the most during the hospital days with Maw, were the mentally disabled couple that wanted to give them $6.

"I didn't want to take their money because I knew it was all they had. It was the biggest contribution we received. Larger than any company because it was all they had," Limburg said.

It has been five years since the accident and Maw is doing well in his speedy wheelchair. He has aides that get him up in the morning and help him for two hours to get ready. They get him out of bed, throw him in the shower, put him back on his bed to get him dressed and do his range of motion. They go through each joint on his body and move them so he doesn't loose mobility. After that is done, Maw said, they throw him in his chair, feed him breakfast, brush his teeth and he is off to school.

Maw also has a black universal cuff that wraps around his hand and has a slit in it, which can hold a fork or a toothbrush, so he can eat and brush his teeth by himself. At school Maw has people in his classes take notes for him and send them to him through email. He uses his pinky knuckle on his laptop's mouse pad to retrieve them. When he has to take tests he goes to the disability resource center and tells a scribe what to write for each answer.

One clear memory, Maw has, was four days before his accident, when he competed the best two tumbling passes in his life. He could have went on and placed third in the Nation and would have been able to fulfill the goals he made when he was 15. With the help of friends, his mom, dad, family members and aides, Maw has no trouble getting around and has set new goals he wants to fulfill.

Maw said he would love to walk again, but if he doesn't he has everything he needs, to be successful in life. He said every injury is different, but he has heard of several people who have gained most of their mobility back.

"There is hope, I couldn't even move my left arm when the accident first happened, and now I can move it very well!" Maw said.

When trials come, Maw said, no matter what they are, you have to literally tackle them head on, because if you don't, they will always chase you around. Maw wants everyone to know that they should never fear life, because if they do, it will pass them by.

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