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Gleason was in the crosswalk when he was hit. Gleason had not noticed the driver was running the stop sign until impact was imminent and the driver did not notice the runner in time to evade the situation. The SUV clipped Gleason’s hip, throwing his body back toward the curb but putting his legs in position to be run over by both the front and rear tires of the vehicle. In anticipation of the impact, Gleason was able to get back towards the curb to prevent his entire body from falling under the vehicle. The move kept a bad situation from becoming worse.

Both of Gleason’s legs were run over by both the front and rear tires of the SUV. On his right leg, Gleason sustained a compound fracture of the tibia and road rash on his ankle. His fractured tibia reset itself either during the injury or transport, which is usually the best case scenario for its healing. Also, the fracture was clean, meaning the bone was not shattered or crushed. Gleason may have sustained injury to his ACL and knee but is waiting for MRI results. Fortunately, the runner’s left leg was uninjured and doctors found no injuries to his head, hips, or back.

Later in the day of the accident, Gleason had surgery on his fractured leg. Surgeons bolted a steel rod along to his tibia. The rod, equal in length to his tibia, runs alongside the bone providing stability and alignment to the fracture. On Feb 14, Gleason underwent surgery for grafting skin to some of his more damaged areas.

Gleason’s track and cross-country coach Paul Schmaedeke has visited the runner in the hospital everyday since his injury. According to the coach, Gleason’s surgeon assured the runner that he should make a full recovery and that the leg will be stronger when healed.

Along with Schmaedeke, Gleason has been visited by a constant stream of friends, family, and teammates. “His [Gleason’s] teammates have done a good job of rallying around him. There has been a good-sized crowd there every time I’ve been there and I imagine that will continue until he’s released from the hospital,” said Schmaedeke. “It’s like being a part of the family when you’re on a team like that and [his teammates] have responded in a very positive way to support him,” Schmaedeke continued.

Perhaps due to his abundance of company, Gleason’s spirits have been high. “I would characterize his [Gleason’s] spirit as good,” said Coach Schmaedeke. “There’s going to be emotional ups and downs but I think he’s dealing with it well. He understands that he was unlucky but very lucky at the same time because it could have been much worse,” said Schmaedeke.

Gleason’s career at Hamline is not finished. He should be released from the hospital this week and he has plans to finish out the semester academically, the coach said. Schmaedeke speculated that Gleason will probably take next fall off to give himself a chance to continue to recover and build fitness. The coach anticipates the junior runner returning to the team in J-term or the spring of 2008.

During his time at Hamline, Gleason has consistently been a top performer and has improved markedly every year. With the track season just barely underway, Gleason has already been named MIAC Athlete of the Week twice. He is currently ranked as the MIAC’s top performer and is eighth in the NCAA. Last week, the men’s team traveled to Iowa for a Division I meet where Gleason ran the 5k in a time of 14:35.66 against some of the toughest competition in the country. Gleason’s time of 14:35.66 is the second fastest indoor time in Hamline history and his time was the fifth fastest in the country at the time for the 5k.

Gleason was tabbed to be a captain for the cross-country team next fall. Gleason is a leader on his team and his presence as well as performance will be missed this year but he will return in time.

“He’s not sitting there going ‘woe is me.’ He’s plotting his comeback and thinking ‘what do I got to do to make a positive out of this and fight my way back to where I was,’” said Schmaedeke.