Ryan Lasko, a Minor League outfielder in the Athletics organization, was released from an in-patient rehab facility on Wednesday more than two months after being paralyzed in an outfield collision.
Lasko, 24, received a surprise “clap out” farewell ceremony from staff members at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey.
“The first day I got here, they asked me what my goal was, and I said to be as independent as possible,” Lasko told the Associated Press. “I’ve gotten to that point. I’ve checked a lot of boxes. Everything that I said I couldn’t do, I can do now – simple stuff like opening my water bottle that you take for granted.”
Lasko suffered a critical injury on June 30 while manning center field for Double-A Midland. He collided with right fielder Devin Taylor while diving for a ball hit in the right-center-field gap. Lasko was carted off the field and taken to a nearby hospital, where he underwent spinal decompression and stabilization surgery resulting from a C6-C7 vertebra fracture.
In an update on July 28, Lasko revealed that he had begun to regain some feeling in his legs and was “feeling much better.” Dr. Jonathan Poggi, who performed the initial surgery, said there is hope that Lasko will regain full feeling in the lower half of his body, though it is expected to be a long process.
“Pretty amazing from where he was with the start of the injury to the progess he’s made," A's manager Mark Kotsay said before Wednesday's game against the Rays. "He’s still got a long way to go. I know that it’s not over for him. He’s going to continue to do the things day in and day out that he needs to do to be able to, hopefully, walk again.
"But from where he was just a few months to where he was today with the smile, the strength and energy, to be able to go home is quite an accomplishment.”
Lasko – a second-round pick by the A’s out of Rutgers in the 2023 Draft – will now begin outpatient therapy while he continues his recovery journey.