During last year's outdoor track and field season junior Tom Kleban was competing in the decathlon and his ankles were bleeding and swollen after hitting them on the hurdles.

But those injuries did not stop him from competing in the rest of the meet; Kleban went on to win the pole vault.

Determined, confident and making the best out of problem situations is how teammates and coaches describe Kleban, but not only for winning the pole vault with bleeding and swollen ankles.

Kleban's determination and confidence have helped him fight back from being paralyzed.

Last July 2 Kleban and teammate Eric Steenstra visited some friends in New Jersey and went swimming.

"I dove into a pool and hit an innertube," Kleban said. "I don't know exactly how I hit it. It was kind of a little blank spot. I didn't get knocked out, but it was a little fuzzy."

When Kleban hit the innertube he dislocated two of his vertebrae. Steenstra, a lifeguard, pulled him to the side of the pool where the two of them collaborated on what to do next.

"I had a good idea what happened and when Eric brought me to the surface I knew what happened. I was trying to guess the vertebrae number. As a matter of fact I was one off; I thought three and four and it was four and five," said Kleban, a communications major.

Kleban suspected he was paralyzed. He said he kept talking to Steenstra so he'd keep his mind off what was going on.

"It was kind of a split second thing, where I was like 'Oh -- I can't really move,' " Kleban said.

On July 5 he had surgery and found out that he was definitely paralyzed, but by this time he wasn't shocked by the news. The surgery consisted of chipping away two bones on either side of his vertebrae, pulling the vertebrae out and sliding them back into place. They were then wired in place and a piece of bone from his hip was inserted to stabilize them.

The surgery alleviated the swelling, which caused the pressure on Kleban's spine. This pressure caused the paralysis.

"We assumed that it was going to be the best thing, which it was," Kleban said.

Before the surgery Kleban could only move his elbows, but directly after the surgery he couldn't move anything.

"My first muscles to come back were my biceps. I could do small shrugs and move my left bicep," Kleban said.

At this time, 10 days after surgery, his right bicep was a trace muscle, a muscle that palpitates, but has no actual movement. After the muscle palpitates, a physical therapist works it to build it back up, Kleban said.

"It's all the feelings mixed in together, it's a real happy feeling, but you know it's only a beginning," Kleban said.

Pole vaulter Mark Algeri said the first time he saw Kleban after the accident he expected him to be depressed, but to Algeri's surprise Kleban was in good spirits.

Kleban said he does get depressed, but that it is only natural.

"I never thought of giving up, you can't do that. If you think of the negative, you'll just dig a hole for yourself and you can't get out," Kleban said. "You have to just keep looking forward."

Men's track coach Harry Groves said Kleban's attitude has always been good; "it was great as an athlete," he said.

Kleban placed third in the decathlon and fifth in the pole vault at last year's IC4A Championships. Groves said that is a difficult task to accomplish.

"Tom was a developing, promising athlete," Groves said. "I was figuring that he would grow into himself this year and really take off."

Currently Kleban is going through a different kind of training session. Other than the rehabilitation therapy he goes through in State College three days a week, he does therapy twice a week with assistant track coach Bill Whittaker.

Whittaker helps Kleban swim at McCoy Natatorium. Kleban wears a life preserver and swims the back stroke two different ways, feet first and head first, moving his arms in an almost complete motion.

"In the water it's really close to a full motion. Out of water, against gravity, I can get them (arms) a little above shoulder level," Kleban said.

He started out swimming two laps each session, and is now up to eight laps per session.

"(Kleban) is just incredible," decathlete Barry Walsh said. "I don't know any person in that same situation that would react so well to it, in such a good way."

"This is something that makes me very proud -- it shows what my son's made of," said Kleban's father, George.

Algeri said pole vaulters are crazy and that Kleban "has the typical pole vaulters' attitude."

"Nothing gets him down, he has the same attitude now as he had toward track," Algeri said.

"He's the kind of person that I feel touches anybody he comes in contact with rather deeply," Groves said. "I don't think he's got an enemy in the whole world."

It has been eight months since the accident and Kleban has been through many different muscle tests and evaluations, but he said the tests are inconsistent right now. Doctors say Kleban could stop getting better tomorrow or make a complete recovery; there is no way to tell.

"I can move my arms, I still don't have hand function or wrist function," he said. "I have a trace muscle in my left wrist.

"Right now I'm just trying to get the most back with what I have right now. It's up to nature really, I mean what ever nature gives me is what I'll bring back."