He’s forever changed, yet the same man. His resolve remains as deep as ever.

Matt Gembka was in a car accident in Avon Lake on May 6, 2006, that left his body crushed from head to toe.

Gembka’s list of injuries is ugly and seems endless.

The 43-year-old Elyria resident has steel from his hips to ankles. The femur — the strongest bone in the body — was broken three times and he has a steel plate where 8 inches of the bone were lost.
Gembka broke his neck, nearly all of his ribs and he had punctures in his lungs. He suffered severe facial injuries.

He was given only a 40 percent chance of walking again, but he’s come back more determined than ever.

Gembka can walk, though he needs the assistance of an improvised walker. But he is walking, and making the most of all that he has.

No longer able to run his tree removal and cutting business due to the severity of the injuries, Gembka refused to throw in the towel. Gembka bought the Time-2-Train gym in Lorain 10 months ago.

But he’s about more than just the gym. In addition to his daily fight against the injuries, he helps others better their lives.

“Don’t give up on yourself is what I’m really trying to emphasize,” said Gembka, a 1985 Elyria High graduate.

As a result of the accident, he lost muscle mass and body mass. Gembka’s weight dropped from 185 pounds to 102. But he wouldn’t be stopped. Working with an occupational therapist, he battled to get his strength back and can do two-finger pullups and pushups.

“I could have ate all those pills they prescribed to me,” he said of painkillers, “but I said no.”

Instead, Gembka takes growth calcium supplements, which help replace lost bone mass.

“That’s the only thing I take and I eat correctly, a healthy diet,” said Gembka. “Before, I looked like an old woman in a wheelchair. I was skinny, but if I took my shirt off my skin was just hanging off my bones, my screws, my plate — all of that. I was not real happy, but I’m coming back.”

He recently competed in his first road race, the 30th annual St. Malachi’s 5-miler on March 13 in Cleveland. He completed the course in one hour, 45 minutes.

Gembka has events on his race calendar he’s pointing toward. The first is the fourth annual Walk for the Homeless 5K run and mile family walk May 8 at LCCC. The other is the Nordonia Hills Duathlon & Pump N’ Run on June 5.

His daily training includes riding his bicycle 35 miles round trip from his home in Elyria to his gym at 1644 E. 28th St. in Lorain.

“The races are part of my rehabilitation,” said Gembka. “I was leg-pressing 1,600 pounds and squatted 600 pounds before my injury. I climbed trees every day, chopped trees, threw logs, plus then I lifted afterwards.”

Despite the trauma and upheaval in his life, the accident sharpened his focus. He’s passionate and dedicated in his desire to help all types of athletes.

“I know a lot of kids,” said Gembka. “I don’t even watch television. The only part of the newspaper I read is the sports page.”

He’s been a single parent for 17 years, raising his son, Kevin, a junior at Elyria.

“He’s the biggest reason why I’m doing everything that I’m doing,” said Gembka. “I can’t expect him to go out and do something if I can’t do it myself.

“‘Well, you used to, Dad.’ I don’t want to hear that. That’s why I keep making it happen.”

Part of his creed is “manifesting life through one’s children or child.”

Improving his life has been more than redeveloping his motor skills and strength or finding the next race to conquer. It’s about becoming a stronger and better person, dad and friend.

“This world needs to turn things around,” said Gembka. “We need to capitalize on maximizing our individual assets.”

Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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