ROAD TO RECOVERY: AFTER A SERIOUS NECK INJURY IN DECEMBER OF 2012 KYLE TAKETA IS BACK ON THE MAT!!!

BY ERNEST PUND

The news is good. Really good.

After suffering a serious neck injury at a tournament in December, nationally ranked Kyle Taketa is back on the mats where he continues a dramatic recovery.

“He graduated from a wheel chair to a walker to a cane and, now, he’s walking without any aids, all within a few months,” said his father, Tyrone. “Kyle is still going to therapy to regain his fine motor movements and has recently stepped back on the mats … He has been working on uchikomi and newaza with the small kids."

Taketa, 21, is a member of the Taishi Judo Club in Carson, CA. “He still has a long journey ahead of him to get back to where he left off but each week more progress is made,” said his father.

Father: Tyrone Taketa

Away from competition, Kyle has begun coaching to share his knowledge of the sport. “He truly misses competing,” said his father, who added that “Kyle would like to thank the judo community for all their support and kindness throughout his ordeal.  Without the judo community and friends he has made, his recovery would be much slower.”