COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

Hal Hargrave at his Claremont home. Last summer, Hal suffered a major spinal cord injury in a trucking accident. Since the accident, Hal has set up the Be Perfect Foundation, which helps raise money for victims of spinal chord injuries.

Fundraiser to raise money for spinal cord injury victims 

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines the term “perfect” as being flawless. Yet there is another meaning of the word “perfect” that hits much closer to home for 2007 Claremont High School graduate Hal Hargrave Jr.—the state of being complete.

In the spirit of striving for perfection, Mr. Hargrave’s foundation Be Perfect will be holding a special fundraiser on Saturday night at the Hafif Estate in La Verne with the focus of the engagement being to raise money for spinal cord injury victims.

The concept of “Be Perfect” first came to Mr. Hargrave, Jr. when he was training for baseball as a pitcher and the CHS graduate also credits a segment in the movie Friday Night Lights by Billy Bob Thornton’s character “Coach Gary Gaines” as being a source of inspiration.

“Growing up, I loved the movie Friday Night Lights,” Mr. Hargrave, Jr. said. “Toward the end of the movie when Billy Bob Thornton is giving his team a speech, he tells them to be perfect. Being perfect is about giving it your all each and every day and I live by that.”

For Mr. Hargrave, Jr., this Saturday’s event will not be without personal attachment. A month after his high school graduation on July 26, 2007, he was involved in a truck accident after attempting to avoid a tire tread that was on the 15 Freeway. As a result of the accident, Mr. Hargrave Jr. suffered a broken neck, a broken scapula, tendon damage to his right shoulder and fractured T1-2 Vertebrae—the most damaging injury coming to the spinal cord at the C5/C6 level.

Before the injury, Mr. Hargrave, Jr. was set to go to California State University, Long Beach in the fall of 2007. He is a baseball enthusiast—having played for the CHS varsity baseball squad and also enjoys wakeboarding, weightlifting and conditioning.

Though his recovery has included surgeries and ongoing rehabilitation as well as a lifestyle adjustment that has him using a wheelchair to travel, the CHS graduate continues to keep a hopeful attitude. Mr. Hargrave, Jr. has also received a significant amount of support from his family, friends and also organizations such as Casa Colina, The Claremont Club and Project Walk.

“The outpouring of community support has been overwhelming,” said his father, Hal Hargrave. “We are so appreciative of all of everyone’s support.”

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

Hal relaxes in his bedroom after a day of working out while his caregiver, Cherie Molinari, orders concert tickets over the phone.

As Mr. Hargrave, Jr. began talking with other spinal cord injury patients, he found that many of them were having problems affording the costs for their rehabilitation. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), lifetime healthcare costs for spinal cord injury victims can total up to nearly $3 million.

The answer became the Be Perfect Foundation, which the Hargrave family has begun in order to raise money for victims of spinal cord injuries. The foundation also becomes a timely one with the NSCISC having reported in 2006 that 11,000 spinal cord injury victims are added each year to the current total of approximately 253,000 spinal cord injury victims currently alive.

“Growing up, I have been very fortunate and always have been able to do what I want with my life,” Mr. Hargrave, Jr. said. “Through this, I have become more receptive to other people. Being in the hospital, I saw the financial shortcomings of other patients. For me, I have been fortunate to have so much support—but trying to recover and not being able to afford a wheelchair or therapy has to be difficult.”

Originally, the Hargrave family only expected a few hundred people to attend the fundraiser but when the total number of people started to approach 500, the event was moved from its original venue of The Claremont Club to the Hafif Estate. Currently, the event sponsored by the Hafif Family Foundation and Apex Imaging Services is sold out.

“We do a lot of events but this one is definitely personal to us,” said Burnis Simon of the Hafif Family Foundation. “All of us have known this kid since he was born and it was a tough blow to all of us when we heard about his accident. He’s had a very good attitude through this.”

Mr. Hargrave, Jr.’s attitude has been a key role in his recovery process as he frequents Casa Colina, The Claremont Club and Project Walk week in and week out. The baseball enthusiast is thankful for all the support that he has received and continues to live by the same motto that he was inspired by in high school and that also is the namesake of his foundation.

“It’s a hard thing to stay positive every day and say I can do this,” Mr. Hargrave, Jr. said. “We all have decisions we can make every day. My decision is to get up and embrace my reality. And my decision has to be the same every day and it is only going to get better.”

For more information on the Be Perfect Foundation, visit www.lilhal.info.

      

—Landus Rigsby