Nellie Hardy spends time with her father, Bryan, while the two watch the Utah Jazz playoffs from their home in St. George. Bryan suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease.

Nellie Hardy, who will play softball for Dixie State next season, rounds third base against Hurricane during their Region 9 game on May 1.


Home is where Hardy is
By DOUG CARY
dcary@thespectrum.com

ST. GEORGE - Like any 18-year-old who's just lived the high school graduation experience, Dixie's Nellie Hardy looks forward to a future full of new challenges.

Like many new graduates, she's sad that her high school years are now a memory. Unlike many others, however, she's seized an opportunity generated by her superb softball talent.



Earlier this month Hardy decided to continue her softball career, signing to play for Dixie State. It's a dream she's held for years, but this next athletic step comes with paramount urgency.

Hardy will stay close to home, as close as she can to the man who stoked her love of competition and taught her that overcoming obstacles through hard work would bring out her best.
Four years ago, while Nellie was beginning a prep career that ended this season with her team's first Region 9 softball championship and league co-MVP honors, her father Bryan Hardy, then 45, felt the onset of muscle weakness and began to lose the use of his fingers.

A year and a half ago after an extensive search for an answer to his symptoms, Bryan was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) - more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens and eventually destroys components of the nervous system that connect the brain and skeletal muscles.

"When they give you the diagnosis, they tell you you'll live for three to five years," Bryan said. "They're very hesitant on giving you a time frame. There's really no time frame. Your attitude ... you can do what you can. There's really no medicine or no cure. It's one of those things; living days and weeks at a time. We're doing OK with it. We've made long-range plans."

In the four years since the first symptoms, the disease has slowly progressed into Bryan's arms and legs. He's retained his job at Deseret Laboratories, working part-time from home with the aid of a voice-activated computer. Without the use of his hands and losing strength in his legs, his family helps him do the things he can no longer do for himself.

Nellie, whose older sister Lacy played softball at Dixie State in 2000 and 2001, weighed her options, pondering whether she should instead play for Community College of Southern Nevada.

"She was really struggling with her decision," said Dwyer, who explained to Nellie that his only regret in moving to St. George years earlier was the time he missed with his grandfather before he died. "I told her, 'You know you have limited time with your dad. My gut feeling is that you'll have the best quality time with him (at Dixie State).'"

A few days later Hardy placed the fate of her decision on one big swing of the bat. She made a pact with Dwyer. If she hit a home run during the Flyers' Region 9 showdown at Hurricane, she'd become a Rebel.

"I looked at him and pointed at him," Nellie said of Dwyer. "I told him, 'I know it ... you just watch.'"

Said Dwyer of what he called his favorite softball moment: "Her second at-bat, she hit a home run. Only her and I knew about it. In the dugout, she looks at me and says, 'Dixie State.' She knows now. That's the way things are supposed to be."

Nellie's proud father can't wait.

"We're excited to see Nellie go there and see her blend in," Bryan said. "She'll be able to stay home and we'll be able to watch her play. That'll be great."

Dwyer is well aware of the player he's getting.

"One thing that always stood out is the passion she has for the game," Dwyer said. "You can tell the passion in her voice when she talks about softball. We're getting something special. We feel like she's giving us the opportunity to come play for us, not the other way around."

Don't give in. Don't give up. Work through adversity to be better.

"It's always our attitude," Bryan said he tells his children. "If you're struggling, just work a little harder and put in the extra effort. Nellie's been terrific with it."

Though the Flyers fell short of winning the 3A title, Nellie batted .417 with six home runs and more than 30 RBIs to lead her team to the best softball season in school history.

"She likes clutch situations at the plate," Dwyer said. "That's the kind of players you want. They don't substitute anything for winning."

Trailing Juan Diego 4-2 in the 3A tournament in Spanish Fork with one on, and just an out from defeat, in what will likely be Bryan's final out-of-town trip to see Nellie play, she belted the most meaningful home run she'll ever hit: A two-run blast that sent the game into extra innings and produced goose bumps.

"That was my most memorable moment in high school," Nellie said. "I always have wondered what he thinks. He's always been one to push me harder and harder ... to give 100 percent in practice and on your own time. That's one of the biggest things he's given me to help me out. I get so much support from him. He's been a huge inspiration."

Those 30 seconds of pride and elation between father and daughter were theirs alone. Untouchable.

"I knew he was proud of me," Nellie added. "I knew he was happy to be there. He's the one I always look forward to talking to after the game. For (high school) softball, those are my final moments; my special moment with him. I'm so glad he was able to be there for that."

The Hardys have accepted there's no battling this disease that has no known cure. Their focus, instead, is to squeeze the most out of the time they have left together.

"It's one of those things that you adapt as you go," said Bryan, whose brother Bruce played 12 NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins. "I have a great family who help me and take care of me. It's great to have. My wife's been wonderful to make sure I have everything I need. I get to go to my kids' games. I am pretty lucky that way."

Always a fine athlete - Bryan played prep baseball at Bingham before starring at BYU and playing four years of single A baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization - he only sees a doctor every six months, eats anything he wants and when he's not working at the computer, he watches a lot of television.

"It's a good thing he likes to watch TV," joked Janet, his wife and sweetheart of 30 years. "We're doing a lot better now. A year and a half ago we weren't doing so well. (The diagnosis) is the worst day of your life. You get mad and want to punch the wall sometimes. It makes you figure out where you're at in life; your priorities.

"With a fatal disease, you make every day count. We eat, laugh, talk and eat. That's one of our favorite things to do. We can still talk and yell at him if we want."

The youngest of five Hardy children, Nellie's been home to witness the physical deterioration of her larger-than-life hero.

"It's been really hard," she said. "Especially this last month with everything changing; graduation; him not being able to come to things that he used to. It's really hard to see it. You don't really know what he's going through. It's really frustrating for him, but it's brought our family closer."

With the great talent that Nellie will add to an already potent Dixie State lineup next season, Dwyer knows that she will lean on him, her new Rebel teammates and the game itself for support as Bryan's ALS advances.

The Hardys find comfort through their faith in God as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"That's the No. 1 thing that gets me through everything," Nellie said. "We're an eternal family. I know I'm going to see him again. It would be so much harder not knowing that I'd see him again, but I know that I will."

As Hardy pushes forward in her athletic career at Dixie State and beyond, she'll continue to feel the love and influence of her father.

"I know he'll always be with me," she said.

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