BELLFLOWER, Calif. (KABC) — At the DeGroat family home in Bellflower, a large Dodgers flag hangs along the front wall, towering above the Halloween decorations scattered around the front yard.
Inside the home, 53-year-old Larry DeGroat, who is quadriplegic, watches a Dodgers game from his wheelchair.
Even though Larry cannot speak, his family knows better than to interrupt him while watching the game.
“He’s glued (to the screen),” said his sister Alice DeGroat. “If I go in there and talk to him, he doesn’t pay attention to me. He’s paying attention to the game, and he looks at me like you’re in my way.”
DeGroat said her brother rarely misses watching a game. And he’s been watching a lot of them since a horrible accident that left him paralyzed when he was only 17 years old.
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“He was on his motorcycle, and he had no helmet on,” said DeGroat. “A car turned in front of him, and he impacted the car and flew a distance in the air. And he landed on the street and his head hit the curb.”
During a recent NLCS game against the Mets, Larry was joined by not only his sister, but his son and baby grandson; the family cheering for every Dodger highlight.
Even Larry.
“If there’s a bad play, he’ll make kind of a sad face,” said Larry’s son Larry DeGroat III. “And his mouth with drop, and his eyes will get kind of teary.
“And if there’s a good play he’ll make a smile, and his eyes will brighten and wide open.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe account at Fundraiser by Alice De’Groat : Support Larry DeGroat’s Journey to Enjoy Life Again to raise money for speech therapy for Larry, by using a mechanical device.
Larry rarely leaves his home, but his sister Alice homes one day to take him back to Dodger Stadium.
“I want to take him places. He has a journey to go to, and he has a lot to experience.”
