Paul Cuccinelli Jr. just completed his baseball career at St. Peter’s Prep this spring. A fine hitter and highly competitive pitcher, Cuccinelli was a left-handed player who had quick, deceptive and impressive power hitting the ball, especially going the opposite way. Looking at Cuccinelli’s physique, you would never think he would be able to hit the ball that powerfully.
As you will now find out, there’s an internal source, an inner drive, that inspires Cuccinelli and his story should inspire all of us.
Paul Cuccinelli Jr. was about 5 years old when he realized that his younger brother, Colin, was a little different than he was.
“He couldn’t go outside, so that’s when I noticed,” Paul Cuccinelli Jr. said. “He couldn’t do the same stuff that other kids did.”
But Paul’s parents knew at an earlier age.
“From the time he was born, he didn’t smile,” Monica Cuccinelli said. “He had digestive issues. He always had colic. When he was three months old, he had his first seizure and then he did it again the next morning.”
His pediatrician gave the Cuccinellis a diagnosis on Colin.
“She said that had intractable epilepsy,” Monica Cuccinelli said. “He also has Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and cerebral palsy.”
As an infant, Colin was implanted with neuro stimulation, the youngest patient to ever receive the implants. But it hasn’t curtailed his seizures.
“He has seizures every day,” Monica Cuccinelli said. “Probably anywhere from six to 10 a day. We monitor it closely. Most seizures don’t last more than three minutes.”
Paul Cuccinelli, Sr. knew that he had his work cut out for him as a father.
“My first thought was, ‘How were we going to help Colin?’” Paul Cuccinelli, Sr. said. “I didn’t know where it was all going to lead, but we wanted to find the best doctors to care for him. We found them at Columbia Presbyterian in New York.”
Never once did the Cuccinellis – Paul Jr. or Paulie as he is much better known – ever question their faith or wonder why they were presented with such an obstacle as having a child who doesn’t speak, doesn’t walk, is confined to the wheelchair and has seizures throughout the day and night.
“Monica and I have never once looked at it as being a burden,” Paul, Sr. said. “God gave us a great gift and we’ve accepted it one day at a time.”
So has Paulie.
“As I got older, I played a bigger role in Colin’s life,” Paulie Cuccinelli said. “I give him his medication. I help to get him changed and dressed. I watch him all the time. I feed him. I never say it’s a burden. I love him. He’s my brother. He’s part of our lives. I enjoy every day helping him, being with him.”
Paulie Cuccinelli said that having a severely handicapped brother prepared him for the rest of his life.
“It forced me to mature at a younger age,” Paulie Cuccinelli said. “I always felt that caring for Colin was just a big part of my life. I have a good idea of what my goals are and he’s helped me a good amount.”
Through it all, the brothers shared one thing together – baseball. Paulie loves to play and Colin loves to watch.
“I think baseball was something they’ve had since Paulie was five years old,” Monica Cuccinelli said. “I think it was always something we could do as a family.”
“Baseball has always helped me,” Paulie said. “It’s always nice to get away for a couple hours each day. You don’t know how lucky I am. I can get away and play baseball. Colin can’t. But he has it in him all the time.”
And Paulie Cuccinelli doesn’t need any pats on the back from anyone for a job well done.
“I think Colin knows we always love him,” Paulie said. “He’s always smiling and laughing. That’s a sign he’s happy. It’s pretty special. He’s had eight brain surgeries in his life, yet he’s always happy and smiling. I admire him. He’s always happy even though he’s going through what he has to go through, so much pain and medication. I admire his toughness. It’s something to be inspired by. And I have been inspired by him.”
In the summer months, Paulie and Colin don’t see each other much. Paulie has two jobs, working for a local pizza parlor as a delivery boy and as a caddy at the Upper Montclair Country Club.
“It’s a little tough to do it, leaving him with my mom and dad all the time,” Paulie said. “But I stay pretty busy.”
“We’ve had some tough times, but it’s the only thing I’ve ever known,” Paulie said. “It’s not like it’s some big problem for me. It’s just Colin. He’s brought me many moments. He’s brought my family, my aunts and uncles and cousins, closer together. He made us a close knit group.”
The Cuccinellis had to rally together earlier this year, when Monica found out that she had breast cancer.
“It was just a little bump in the road,” Monica said.
She’s handled the treatment very well and is cancer-free.
“Everyone has something,” she said.
Not quite like this.
“I don’t know if we would have been able to get through it all without our families,” Monica said. “It’s very comforting to know that people are around and that they care.”
Paul Cuccinelli, Sr. has been able to keep his job with AT&T through the years.
“I think we’ve really been blessed with Colin,” Paul, Sr. said. “We’ve learned a lot from Colin. He’s taught a lot of people about life.”
Thankfully, there was always big brother around to add support.
“Paulie knows he has a special needs brother,” Paul, Sr. said. “He’s welcomed it. In fact, he’s embraced it.”
And through everything, Paul, Sr. has learned one thing.
“I know most kids look up to their dad,” Paul, Sr. said. “But I look up to Paul. Words can’t describe how proud I am of him.”
Last week, Paulie Cuccinelli graduated from Prep. He’s headed to Rutgers in the fall, but will be close enough to home to see his brother. Unfortunately, his baseball career is over.
Before he left, Prep head coach Pat Laguerre presented Paulie with his jersey, but then made a special presentation. He gave a similar No. 5 jersey to Colin, complete with his name on the back.
And then, there was the icing on the cake. At graduation, Prep gives out a special award in the memory of Jeff Kachel, who was a Prep baseball player and graduate of the Class of 1989 and battled Hodgkin’s disease throughout his high school days before passing away a year later at the age of 19.
The award is given to the “graduate whose perseverance, commitment and leadership are marks of a true Prep student-athlete.” This year’s recipient was Paul Cuccinelli.
“I had no idea that was happening,” Paulie said. “I was completely shocked. It’s pretty special.”
“I knew Jeff and I knew his struggles,” the elder Cuccinelli said. “It was the end of a great four years at St. Peter’s Prep.”
I also knew Jeff Kachel very well. I wrote about Jeff as a player before he got sick. I wrote about Jeff’s struggles and went to visit him in the hospital several times when he was undergoing grueling stem cell replacement treatments. He had a column I wrote about him taped to the wall over his bed.
I wrote about his amazing comeback as a player, but how he struggled to hit and was so bothered by that. It was a miracle he was playing baseball again. Who cared about whether he got a single or a double?
One time he saw me, he said, “Hey, Mr. Hague, want to see my scar?” and he started to lift his shirt. I loved the kid.
Well, knowing both as well as I do, there is no more fitting recipient of that award in Jeff’s memory, no one more deserving to be recognized. And one other thing: They were both left-handed first basemen.
“I just do what I do,” Paulie Cuccinelli said. “It’s nothing special.”
Oh, quite the contrary.
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com. You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.com. This week’s blog features the unfair treatment of a legendary coach and something Hudson County residents can all identify with.
