Drew Donnellan's story

In 2006, Drew Donnellan, a Salpointe gymnast, was injured during a routine and left paralyzed. The Star has followed his journey from recovery to college graduation.

Accident paralyzes Salpointe gymnast

One of Tucson's top male gymnasts is paralyzed from the neck down after suffering spinal cord damage in a tumbling accident his coach says happens "one in a million times."

One instant dashes gymnast's dreams

The flip was routine. Drew Donnellan had done it hundreds of times, even working on a double. A few days earlier, he had tried a single, overrotated and landed on his face — his muscle memory overriding his mind. On May 12, about an hour into practice at Gymnastics World, his feet left the b…

Learning a new routine

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drew Donnellan reaches his lips to the plastic straw sticking out of his motorized wheelchair.

'The new me'

The room with the drum kit will be Drew Donnellan's bedroom, at least for now. Volunteers have been renovating the old brick-and-plaster house on Edison Street in Midtown for two months. They removed a cabinet that was just beyond the front door. In his wheelchair, Drew can't fit through there.