Film producer Tony Wilson was a key player in bringing to life a movie project called “The Final Season”, a story celebrating small-town Iowa and the game of baseball. On June 30, 2006, Tony, cameraman Roland Schlotzhauer, and pilot Richard Green were flying along Highway 151 while shooting some of the final scenes for the movie. The helicopter struck a power line and crashed, nose first, killing Schlotzhauer and severely injuring Wilson and Green.

The two survivors were transported by AirCare to the Level I Trauma Center at UI Hospitals and Clinics, where a team of trauma experts, including the Surgical Intensive Care Unit team headed by Steven Hata, MD, devoted itself to both patients’ recoveries.

“Given the severity of injuries, the outcome for both patients was quite fortunate,” says orthopaedic surgeon Sergio Mendoza, MD, who performed Tony’s spine reconstructive procedures.

Wilson’s Injury Severity Score was 48 (anything above 15 is considered major).

His injuries included severe chest trauma, a spine fracture with spinal cord injury, and severe leg injuries. Besides two major spine operations, he underwent ‘bone transport,’ a leg-lengthening procedure performed by orthopaedic surgeon Larry Marsh, MD, and colleagues. Overall, Wilson underwent a total of five surgeries including back and ankle surgeries to remove bone fragments.

Following his discharge from UI Hospitals and Clinics, Wilson underwent extensive rehabilitation in Des Moines to learn how to walk again. Doctors estimated it would take him four to six weeks to relearn this skill, but Wilson learned how to walk again in a little over two weeks.

Today, the 1978 University of Iowa graduate walks in near-normal fashion and hopes to jog again as he continues to rehabilitate. “The care I received was exceptional,” he says. “Everyone was so kind to our family. We had quite a prayer chain going with a lot of people involved.”

Wilson adds, “It was a horrible accident but if it had to happen, I couldn’t have gone to a better place than University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.”

The Final Season

Wilson devoted 15 years of his life to the making of The Final Season.

It tells the true story of Kent Stock, who, in the early 1990s, gave up a job and ditched his wedding plans to take over as head coach of the storied high school baseball team in Norway, Iowa. Stock had to win over his players and convince them and himself that he could fill their legendary former coach’s shoes, and that they could go out winners in what became tiny Norway High’s final baseball season.

Some scenes from The Final Season were filmed at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, the home field of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Final Season was recently picked up by Sony and could be released soon. The Kernels will show a two-minute promotional trailer about the movie during the Homerun for Life event honoring Wilson and members of his care team.

For more information:

KCRG Story

AirCare

Level One Trauma Center

Sergio Mendoza, MD

Larry Marsh, MD

The Final Season