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The day after his grandson Tanner’s accident, Howard Johnson returned to the site and found Tanner’s shoe, which had been shredded to pieces in the grass. Johnson collected them all and placed them in a bag as a reminder of the sobering event.
More than a year has passed since Tanner lost all five toes on his left foot, when his father (Howard’s son Glen) accidentally ran over it with a lawnmower. Tanner wound up needing three surgeries to reconstruct the foot. He wears fillers in his sneakers to help him walk normally. To cope with the grief, Glen began seeing a therapist.
But the family has come out of the ordeal feeling blessed. Tanner, according to Howard, is now a precocious 3-year-old playing Little League alongside kids a full year older than him. He enjoys playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys as well, and he’s about to experience one of the greatest thrills of his young life. On Saturday, Tanner will throw out a ceremonial first pitch before Mets Old-Timers’ Day at Citi Field. The ceremony will be streamed live on MLB.TV.
“Considering what he went through, right now, it’s probably the best-case scenario at this point,” the elder Johnson said in a telephone interview. “He’s doing very well. He just calls it his ‘owie foot.’ He doesn’t really remember it. He doesn’t talk about it. He doesn’t shy away from anything because of it.”
A star Mets infielder from 1985-93 and later a coach in the organization, Johnson is one of more than five dozen former Mets who will participate in Old-Timers’ Day. He’s looking forward to seeing many of his old teammates, particularly from the 1986 World Series championship club. Like most participants, he laughs when discussing how his 61-year-old body will respond to the game.
More than anything on the field, however, Johnson is looking forward to his time with Tanner. The two have been practicing in the backyard in Tennessee, where Tanner lives and Howard spends his summers.
“He’s not going to be able to comprehend it until he gets out there,” Howard said. “But he’s going to love it.”
Shortly after the accident, the Johnson family started a GoFundMe page to help pay for Tanner’s surgeries, with the goal of raising $75,000. Thanks to the support of Mets fans and many others, the family was able to collect nearly double that total.
Howard still thinks about the accident every time he goes to his son’s house. Glen recently sold the lawnmower after a year of being too fearful to ride it. But slowly, the family is moving on, using Tanner’s happiness as a cue for their own.
“It’s been incredible to see what’s happened with that GoFundMe and the support and the well-wishes, the prayer, everything that’s gone into Tanner and the family,” Howard said. “Trying to deal with that, that’s not an easy thing to go through. … But hopefully, if things keep going the way they’re going, he’s going to live a pretty normal life.”