dsaccess.org

Hope and friendship

By Ken Abramczyk o OBSERVER STAFF WRITER o January 1, 2009

Douglas Kudwa felt sensations in his legs like he was being electrocuted on that day in April 2002. The
Livonia native was knocked by an I-beam at a construction site in Brighton and fell 23 feet down an
elevator shaft onto concrete chunks and "rebar" or reinforcement bars.

Kudwa fell back first, and his lower back struck the concrete with such force that the impact went up his
leg and shattered his left ankle, even though his leg was up in the air.

"I felt like I was being electrocuted," Kudwa said. "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what."

Kudwa was transported to the University of Michigan Hospital with an uncertainty of whether he would
survive the fall, telling personnel to tell his wife Sandra he loved her.

It would begin a long arduous journey for Kudwa, that made him help appreciate his friendship that began
in a Livonia neighborhood 40-plus years ago.

Kudwa suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury, meaning that his spine was not severed, but was seriously
injured, with fragments near his spinal cord. "At that point, I was paralyzed from the waist down," Kudwa
said.

Doctors performed surgery for 10-12 hours to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord. They fused the
spinal cord together with a titanium rod.

Kudwa had no feeling for a week, but soon felt tingling in his lower legs and sensations in his toes. Good
signs.

But the road back was rough and painful. Sandra Kudwa had to clothe and bathe Doug. Then the
therapists arrived later, and that was Doug's regimen every day for his three years in intense rehabilitation.

Kudwa spent a year with a walker, dealing with the pain of recovery, using pain killers, then quitting them
because he didn't want to be addicted to them. He suffered great pain at that point, but that subsided.
He went through therapy and exercises as part of his long road to recovery and to ultimately walk again.
His wife purchased kneepads to help him walk around the house on his knees to strengthen his legs, which
he sometimes did at all hours of the night.

But doctors told him that he probably would never work again. Kudwa wanted normalcy. That November,
he went hunting and sat in his wheelchair, bagging a buck on his trip on a 150-yard shot. "I just wanted to
get back to hunting, fishing and camping," Kudwa said. "I wanted to get back to some normalcy." Kudwa
wanted to work, but found that companies would not hire him. For two years, Kudwa sent out resumes
seeking work as a project manager, or an office job since he could no longer work the physical part of
onsite construction. "Anyone who knew me was leery about taking me back,"

Kudwa said. "They had questions: Was he able to work every day? Would he make it in that day? But they
were worried about a possible future liability. They never said anything to me, but it was obvious."

Kudwa credits his wife for much of his recovery. "Our relationship grew through prayer. We laughed and
cried together, and she's really my best friend."

Soon another friend stepped forward - Steve Vlahakis. They grew up together on Harrison in the Middlebelt
and Five Mile neighborhood, attending Riley and graduating from Bentley.

They kept in touch throughout the years. Like he did every year, Vlahakis called Kudwa on Kudwa's
birthday, his 48th, on Dec. 7, 2007. But this conversation was different.

Vlahakis asked Kudwa if he wanted to go into business with him. Vlahakis, Vice President of Seaway
Painting, an industrial painting contractor in Livonia founded by Steve's father, George, and Kudwa would
create DS Access & Maintenance, LLC, which would lease a specialized elevated lift for contractual work
for painting and maintenance of buildings and bridges.

The specialized elevated lift resembles a spider. The 5,000-pound lift can maneuver through a 3-foot by
7-foot opening and is 16 feet long. It reaches heights of 60 feet to work on maintenance of heating,
cooling, plumbing, fire suppression equipment, electrical or painting.

The machine is unique because the lift's operator can maneuver the bucket by folding the arm. The
machine has special outriggers that act as feet extending to cover an area of 12 by 12-feet. That puts
out a ground pressure of 5 pounds per square inch.

So far, business has been good, the partners say. DS Access & Maintenance's lift was recently used to
paint structures and frames of CBS billboards, and at Hillsdale College and the M-14 bridge at Sheldon Road
in Plymouth. They say they may purchase a second lift.

Kudwa is grateful for the opportunity and the chance to spend time with his childhood friend. "It has given
me hope for the future. I feel very fortunate. These people (Steve's parents, George and Connie) were
always like second parents to me. It's like being invited into their family. It's meant a lot to me.

"Steve's always pulling people along with him. He's always helping his family and friends. He's just a great
guy and he's always been very humble."

Vlahakis said he developed the business plan because Kudwa was a lifelong friend and also he saw an
opportunity.

"We've had a lifelong friendship," Vlahakis said. "We did everything together from baseball to football and
anything like construction as a kid, chasing girls as a kid." Vlahakis then laughs.

"We had a great childhood together. Mr. (George) Kudwa was our baseball coach and he was a great guy.
A friend is like family." (George Kudwa died in 1988. Doug's mother, Marge Kudwa, lives in Farmington Hills.
Doug Kudwa lives in Holly and Steve Vlahakis lives in Northville.) "He's just a lifelong friend, and it's a great
opportunity," Vlahakis said. "We've always looked out for each other our whole lives."

kabramcz@hometownlife.com