'It’s a journey': Former Doherty star Tariq Massenburg sees light during his road to recovery from paralysis, neurological disorder
WESTBOROUGH — Tariq Massenburg was playing an NBA 2K video game with a cousin in Virginia and a friend in Worcester on a late October evening when he noticed his hands and feet were getting tingly.
The 25-year-old Doherty High and Assumption College/University graduate from Worcester didn’t think much about it and soon headed to bed to join his girlfriend, Kayla Prokopowich, in the Spencer apartment they share with their 4-year-old twin boys, Kashton and Kyzer.
Massenburg quickly fell asleep, but with dawn approaching, he woke up and, to no avail, tried to sit up.
“I was really struggling … I was struggling and flopping all around,” Massenburg slowly, but determinedly said earlier this month via a speaking valve attached to his throat from Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital, where he has been since Nov. 8.
“I asked, “Babe, are you OK?’ ” Prokopowich, 26, recalled. “He said he couldn’t feel his hands and his feet, and he couldn’t hold his head up. I noticed he was slurring his words.”
Scared and nervous, Prokopowich remained calm and punched 911 into her cellphone. It was Oct. 20, and sunrise was about two hours away.
Massenburg didn’t pass out and was fully aware of his surroundings as EMTs transported him via ambulance to the UMass Memorial Medical Center on Belmont Street in Worcester.
Massenburg was a star for Highlanders and Greyhounds
Massenburg attended Worcester Tech as a freshman before asking his parents, James and Christine, to allow him to transfer to Doherty.
They repeatedly rejected the request from the middle of their three children because they valued everything Tech had to offer. They finally relented after talking with various folks who touted the academic and athletic opportunities at Doherty.
Massenburg, who began playing football for the Worcester Vikings as a tyke, became a three-year starter for the Highlanders, who won the 2013 Division 4 state championship his sophomore season.
“The coaches didn’t know me, so I kind of had to make a name for myself,” Massenburg said. “I like how I was able to work my way up.
“One of our starting corners went down, and I was the next man up. That was my opportunity, I started playing early, and that was the year we went to Gillette.”
Massenburg, who graduated with honors in 2016, captained both the football and basketball teams as a senior, when he also, with no previous experience, played lacrosse for the first time, quickly establishing himself as a sturdy defender who was reliable on faceoffs.
“He was ready for the big time with us right away,” longtime Doherty football coach Sean Mulcahy said. “As a junior, he began to play both ways and then as a senior captain had a great year.
“Then he went to Assumption and played four years for Coach (Bob) Chesney. Great kid, great student, great role model for our younger guys as he became an older player.”
The diagnosis
When Massenburg arrived in the emergency room at UMass, he was able to talk, albeit with a slur. He could lift his arms and raise his legs.
Medical personnel began running tests on him as he started to rapidly deteriorate. He lost movement in his arms and legs, couldn’t hold his head up and required constant suction of his mouth as he was no longer able to swallow or speak.
“Within 48 hours, everything went,” James Massenburg said.
“They were just trying to figure out was happening,” Prokopowich said. “I think that was the scariest part because I didn’t know whether we were going to lose him or not.”
The only thing a paralyzed Massenburg could move was his eyes, which ultimately became a form of communication. Side to side meant no and rolling them up indicated yes.
The day after arriving at the hospital, Massenburg was moved to the intensive care unit following another series of tests, all of which came back normal. He was placed on a ventilator and had a feeding tube inserted in his throat.
His blood pressure and sugar levels were out of whack, leading a man who always abstained from medication to be placed on it.
“Yeah, it was scary, but at the moment I was like, ‘They’re going to check out what it is, and I’ll be out of here in a couple of weeks.’ ” Massenburg said. “But as time went on, reality set in.”
Through a process of elimination, it was determined Massenburg had Guillain-Barré syndrome (pronounced ghee-yan bah-ray). The rare — and life-threatening — neurological disorder accidentally attacks the network of nerves that connect the brain to the spinal cord.
“It’s tough as a parent to see your child, no matter how old they are, go through (something),” Christine Massenburg said. “It was something we never even heard of.
“He thought it was going to be a couple of weeks; we thought it was probably going to be a week, if anything a few days. Then when we saw that it was going on, we were like, ‘Uh oh.’ ”
Massenburg spent a couple of weeks on Belmont Street before being transferred to the UMass Memorial Medical Center on Lake Avenue.
A young family and blossoming careers keeps the couple busy
Massenburg and Prokopowich were familiar with each other through their connection to mutual friends before they crossed paths at a college mixer at Union Station on March 30, 2017.
They immediately hit it off and ended up staying up until the early morning talking in the car.
“It was crazy,” Prokopowich said. “I never had such a long conversation with somebody. It just felt so normal and natural.”
The two have been together ever since and are doting and loving parents of twins. The boys celebrated their fourth birthday on Oct. 25, five days after their dad was admitted to the hospital.
They both love trucks and their dad but are uniquely individual.
Kyzer is the oldest, enjoys playing with figurines and can keep himself occupied. Kashton is bigger, a huge fan of Mickey Mouse and often gets bored, which mom attributes to being so bright.
“There’s not a day that hasn’t gone by where they say, ‘I want to see Daddy,’ or anything like that,” said Prokopowich said.
A month passed before everyone agreed the time was right for the boys to visit Tariq. They were initially nervous, but settled in, each coloring pictures of a Pilgrim that hang among a photo collage in Massenburg’s room at Whittier.
But not being part of their daily lives has been understandably difficult for Massenburg.
“It’s hard to be away from them when they’re growing so much and talking so much more,” Massenberg, clean shaven and sporting short dreads and a circle beard, said softly. “They’re just a lot smarter, and I feel like while I’ve been away from them for so long they’ve grown so much.”
Prokopowich grew up in Worcester and attended North High for three years before graduating from David Prouty in 2015 after relocating to Spencer due to a death in the family.
She then earned a degree in early childhood education at Quinsigamond Community College and worked in that field for a few years before opening her own business, Spencer Diamond Nails & Spa, which currently has eight employees, two years ago.
Massenburg graduated with a degree in accounting in 2020 and earned a master’s in business administration the following year. He’s an accountant with Boston-based SimpliSafe, working remotely four days a week, which allows him the flexibility to be deeply involved in the twins' lives.
“He’s definitely a present dad, and not just a present dad, but a great dad,” Prokopowich said.
Tariq's big breakthrough
When Massenburg arrived at the UMass facility on Lake Avenue, he couldn’t lift his head. Then, one day, his parents saw him move a toe.
After arriving at Whittier in early November, Massenburg shook his foot. A month later, he spoke for the first time since being hospitalized.
His first words? “Hello Mommy.”
“It’s a journey, but at least we have a journey to go on,” James Massenburg said.
“The light is over there somewhere,” Christine Massenburg said. “They say he’s going to recover, which I have no doubt that he will because he’s doing great.”
Indeed, Tariq has fully embraced his thrice daily physical therapy sessions that total two hours and either take place in his room or the facility’s gym. It’s admittedly tiring, but he remains fully motivated.
While Massenburg wasn’t working out prior to be hospitalized, he kept his 6-foot-2 frame in shape by playing rec basketball and running routes in one-on-one football passing drills with his buddies.
His young age, natural athleticism and experience with coaches have served him well during his slow, but continuous recovery that has been overseen by physical therapist Jill Warner and occupational therapist Hillary Krasowsky along with many nurses, certified nurse aides, respiratory therapists, and various other staff members.
“The (Whittier staff) definitely noticed I was an athlete before I told them,” Massenburg said. “It helps a lot because (in athletics) there’s usually a coach yelling at you, ‘Keep going; keep going. Five more; five more.’ And you don’t have an option. You have keep going.
“But (the therapists) are a lot more considerate, they ask, ‘Can you keep going? Are you all right?’ I just have the mindset of one more. That’s on me, so it definitely helps.”
Massenburg is breathing on his own and at the start of last week spent 14 straight hours off a ventilator, which he still uses at night.
He was scheduled to begin walking this week after having used a standing frame that got him acclimated to putting weight on his legs again.
The hope is Massenburg will be released in mid-February. Whenever that time comes, his emotions will be a mixture of excitement and anxiousness.
“It’s weird because it really hasn’t been that long, but it feels like it’s been so long, and my body definitely feels it,” Massenburg said. “It’s been kind of weird to retrain yourself to walk and move your legs and even stand up. So, yeah, it is kind of scary, but I’m ready for it because I want to go home.”
And the first thing he’ll do when that happens?
“I just want to take my kids somewhere and do something fun outside,” Massenburg said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by James and Christine Massenburg to help defray Tariq’s medical expenses. For more information, visit https://gofund.me/e1585c3d.
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Doherty star Tariq Massenburg sees light during his road to recovery
