By: Joe Mags and Moraima Capellán Pichardo
Brian Hamilton began July 12 like any other day that summer.
It was just another Friday morning waking up at a friend’s house. A teammate picked him up for a double-header of summer baseball, and after coming home for a shower that afternoon, Brian was right back with his buddies from the night before.
Summertime can often become cyclical — sometimes forgettable from day-to-day: another swim in the pool, a baseball game at the park, a drive from one social gathering to another.
But July 12, 2013 is a date the Hamilton family will never forget.
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Eric Hamilton completed his secondary education at Central North Syracuse High School in June, ending a strong, two-sport career in baseball and hockey. Hamilton is brawny, a natural power hitter; he crushes the ball. Eric grew up around older guys, battling against his older brother Brian and his friends since he was a kid. Eric and Brian played baseball and hockey together on varsity during Brian’s senior year.
Brian continued playing baseball at SUNY Oswego, and his first two seasons with the team were incredibly successful: he was a first-team All-SUNYAC selection in 2013 after hitting .345 in 35 games, starting nearly every game at third base. He also won the SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award Winner.
Eric chose to join the Lakers baseball program in large part to reunite on the field with his brother Brian.
That was the plan.
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Brian made an impulsive decision to travel to his girlfriend’s family camp in Watertown (about 75 minutes from Liverpool, N.Y.) that Friday night. He got into the passenger seat of the 2000 Chevy Jimmy of his girlfriend’s cousin Joe Wede. With Wede’s dog in the backseat, the two left Liverpool at approximately 8:30 p.m.
The man who eventually called 9-1-1 was following behind their Chevy about 100 yards when it happened.
Somewhere near Pulaski, traveling northbound on Route 81, Wede’s car hit something. The impact sent the vehicle off the road, over the white line that was roped off. The car flipped over the rope about seven times before crashing to a halt.
Brian was found 20 feet from the vehicle. Wede was still in his seat. The dog was nowhere to be found.
Brian was taken in an ambulance to the city of Pulaski, then air lifted to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
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Sue Hamilton almost left for Delaware.
Eric was playing a baseball tournament there that weekend. Dave Hamilton accompanied his son, but Sue, who has followed her boys to countless baseball tournaments over the years, had a feeling she should stay home.
Thankfully, Sue was at home when she received word from the authorities that something had happened to her son. Sue arrived at Upstate before Brian.
She could hear the helicopter landing on the roof.
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Eric was swimming in a pool in Delaware when he saw two missed calls on his cell phone.
What started as any other summer day — in and out of swimming pools and baseball games — ended with the two Hamilton men hurrying back to New York to see Brian in the hospital that Saturday morning.
“The longest five-hour drive of our life,” Dave Hamilton said. “I hope nobody goes through that. It was horrible.”
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Pat Brown is a senior at SUNY Oswego, a pitcher for the baseball program. He’s also a childhood friend of the Hamiltons, graduating from nearby Liverpool High School, the nemesis of the CNS North Stars.
Brown was amongst the few people outside of the affected families contacted on the night of the car accident. He was entrusted with getting in touch with SUNY Oswego baseball coach Scott Landers.
The baseball coach’s response was immediate. Following an exchange with Brown, Landers drove to the hospital, and waited with Sue as they anticipated Brian’s arrival.
Brown wasn’t surprised by this.
“Coach says all the time to our team that if you need anything from him or have a problem that he will have your back and be there for you,” Brown said. “That’s how good teams work, on a family level. We all look at each other as family members. So I wasn’t surprised at all when coach went right to the hospital to support his player.”
“(Coach) Landers was unbelievable,” Brian said. “As much as I used to love him as my coach, now he is such a great friend. It’s more than I could’ve expected.”
Sue was rightfully nervous and worried that evening, but she could not have been more appreciative of Landers’ presence that night and over the days to follow.
“Can’t say enough about coach (Landers) for being there with my wife,” Dave said. “Besides being a good baseball coach, he’s been supporting Brian from day one.”
Landers is quick to dismiss any credit because being there for his players — for that family — is his job.
“They [the Hamilton family] have respect for me. [Brian] is like another kid of mine. It wasn’t a hard decision to go to the emergency room.”
“Baseball took second to everything else,” Landers continued. “I saw [Brian] that night. I was more concerned with ‘Is this kid going to be alive?’ I wasn’t expecting any miracles [that he could play baseball this year].”
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The car was totaled, the scene hideous.
One of the more haunting images of the accident, Sue says, was that Brain’s seatbelt remained perfectly in place inside what was remaining of the vehicle.
Brian has never seen a photograph of himself from that night or the first couple days of recovery, but his parents remind him how bad he looked whenever the topic arises. The list of Brian’s injuries are as gruesome as he looked that week in July.
He had a laceration under his left armpit, a snapped humerus in his left arm, and his right arm was swollen like he had just finished lifting a set of 1,000 pound Dung bells. He had cracked and broken ribs, and a broken sternum that would need three months to heal.
Brian had a punctured lung and a lacerated liver, and the injuries to his spleen called for two months recovery time.
Full layers of skin were ripped off his stomach, most likely a result of his seatbelt working correctly, and because of that Brian has lost all feeling and sensitivity on the outmost layer of his stomach.
The scariest injury for Brian to overcome, undoubtedly, was a traumatic brain injury suffered during the crash. His head was monitored closely for 12 weeks, and if anything caused him light-headedness or fatigue, he was ordered to stop immediately for fear it could cause long-term damage.
“It gave me huge perspective,” Brian said. “I think about it everyday. I can never take [being alive] for granted.”
Brian did not wake up until the next day. He was in the hospital for 17 days. When he first began walking he couldn’t go ten feet without feeling like he finished a marathon.
For Brian, summer had always been about baseball, hanging out with friends, and enjoying the weather. Suddenly that was the furthest thing from his mind.
“Everyone thinks they’re The Hulk, but when [something like this] happens it’s an eye-opener.”
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After a couple days, Wede’s dog was spotted walking southbound on Route 81 toward Syracuse. Just like Wede and Brian, he was coming home.
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Brian wears two necklaces — one from his deceased Grandmother, the other from his girlfriend. Miraculously, as his body was torn and broken in the car wreck, the two necklaces remained unharmed.
Dave and Eric arrived at the hospital on Saturday while Brian was still in surgery. After seeing Brian and learning that he was going to make it, the family decided that Eric should return to his baseball team in Delaware — that Brian would want Eric to play.
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One of his first days out of the hospital, Brian got the chance to watch his brother and his friends play some pickup baseball at nearby Clay Park in Liverpool.
Brian started therapy about a week after leaving the hospital, beginning with lifting one pound weights and walking, but it was stressed that he could not over do it. Meanwhile, his house became a revolving door of support from friends and family. The Hamiltons received so many free dinners from other families that they needed a schedule to keep it all straight.
And that was just a continuation of support. Dave and Sue counted every visitor during Brian’s stay in the hospital: 41 people visited Brian on the first Monday, and over 100 people came to see him in total.
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Brian’s original goal was to play baseball this spring. By the end of the fall semester, he realized that was impossible.
As humbling as retiring the prospect of playing baseball this spring was, Brian’s spirits remained high because of his coach, the seniors, and watching his brother develop on the field.
“My roommates [Brown, Kyle Liner, Ryan Donovan and Nick Dreimiller] were unbelievable, and my brother and my team,” Brian said. “They kept telling me to be positive, that I’ll be playing next year with my brother.”
“I try to be there for Brian when he has some setbacks and hits some walls,” Brown said. “Anyone who has been through something like he has is going to have times where things feel overwhelming and hard. And it’s important for someone to be there and be positive, reassuring that everything is going to work out and all this hard work will pay off.”
Brian committed to being a leader off the field for the Lakers this season, and Landers, who already knows the type of leader Brian is on the field, has taken notice.
“He’s a vital part of our team going forward,” Landers said. “He doesn’t miss anything. He’s at games, doing stats for the team. Young guys look up to him – not just as a baseball player but as a person. He’s almost ready. Him watching with a coach’s perspective will help him in the long run.”
The hardest part for Brian is not being on the field, something that did not quite set in until the team’s spring break trip to Florida.
“It’s bugging him not to play; it’s the first time he hasn’t been on the field since he was five,” Dave said.
“It really hit me that I wasn’t out there, having no control over the outcome,” Brian said. “I’m trying to be a captain without being a captain.”
Brian has practiced every day with the team since their return to New York. He is about two months ahead of schedule, and will be spending this summer returning to game shape.
“It is remarkable the progress Brian has made and how quickly he has got to the level he is now, and that’s a direct reflection of his great work ethic,” Brown said. “I have no doubt that it will only continue until his career is done here.”
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Eric finished his freshman campaign batting .333 over 31 games – the thirteenth-best average in the conference – flirting with his older brother’s impressive batting average from 2013.
Landers has been around long enough to know not to applaud a true freshman too quickly.
“Eric’s first year has been OK,” Landers said. “He’s very talented. I’m lucky I have him.”
Oswego’s third-year baseball coach has also seen Eric through an emotional year, and knows how difficult the process has been for the Hamilton family.
“[It’s a] great family – kids, parents, relatives. They come to games and support these guys,” Landers said. “His big brother is here. It’s OK. It’s not like he isn’t here. They want to play together. The accident has been tough for the family but Brian has been there for him.”
After years of clashing on the fields and blacktops of Clay Park, Brown has enjoyed playing alongside Eric at Laker Field, and assisting his development at the collegiate level.
“It’s awesome to see him having such a successful freshman year,” Brown said. “It’s always a tough transition into college ball but Eric is doing it very well. It’s important to just set an example for the young guys like Eric and get them to realize what this program is about and what we are trying to accomplish here.”
Brian and Eric thought it would come sooner, but they will be playing together – on the field, batting in the same lineup – this summer on a Stan Musial league team.
“This summer will be like High School – [they’re] playing together again,” Dave said. “It’ll be even better when they are on the field together at Oswego.”
After such a demanding year, the brothers are looking forward to some special days this upcoming summer – making memories they will never forget.
Joe Mags (@JoeMags_hoops) is a staff writer for pickinsplinters.com and interning for the Watertown Daily Times. Peace, love, recycle and ball.
Moraima Capellán Pichardo (@Moraima_CP) is the former editor of the arts and entertainment section for The Oswegonian. She is a recent graduate of SUNY Oswego with degrees in journalism and cinema and a minor in photography.
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