Barnica Thankful for Return to Health, Bowling

There’s a noticeable hitch in Nathan Barnica’s delivery as he competes for the Ephrata bowling team.

While the sophomore’s 205 average wouldn’t lead anyone to think much of that hitch, the story behind it, and bowling’s role in his recovery, is nothing short of inspirational.

“He wasn’t able to even walk, and now he’s back and he’s rolling the ball incredibly,” Ephrata bowling coach Nick Vanderwende said recently. “It’s without a doubt the most heart-warming thing I’ve experienced in the sport.”

In October 2018, Barnica was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis, a disease that develops from a common virus and affects the spinal cord, causing muscles and reflexes to become weak.

Not long before falling ill, Barnica had qualified for Junior Gold, a national youth bowling tournament. But on the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, even though he wasn’t feeling very well, he went to 222 Dutch Lanes to watch his team bowl in a Saturday morning league. When he got out of the car, his leg buckled.

That eventually led to a trip to the emergency room, and within hours, an ambulance ride from Ephrata to the Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey. With his right leg completely paralyzed due to AFM, he was transferred to Kennedy Krieger in-patient rehab in Baltimore that Nov. 13. Barnica’s trials and tribulations included six- to eighthour stretches of rehab at Kennedy Krieger.

“In his off time, we’d go to the community center, where they had a plastic bowling set and we’d spend hours bowling,” his mother, Heather Barnica, said. “He’d sit in a chair and throw a plastic ball, because bowling has always been his favorite thing to do.”

When Nathan Barnica left rehab on the morning of Dec. 8, his family drove directly to Dutch Lanes so he could be there for the Saturday morning league.

Barnica’s stages of recovery included that return to Dutch Lanes, where he would eventually bowl using a crutch with a one-step approach and a 6-pound ball. Later, he would extend his approach to three steps with a brace on his leg. He then progressed to bowling with no brace. Eventually, he got back to his normal 15-pound ball.

“It was rough, I have to be honest. It felt like forever,” Barnica said of his recovery. “Just working through the physical therapy and all that stuff, it was pretty grueling.”

“He’s been through a lot, especially the past four years,” said his brother, Andrew Barnica, who shares the Lancaster-Lebanon Leagueleading average of 235. “He had to come back to be able to bowl and he’s obviously bowling really well.”

“I’m mixed with pride and joy,” Heather Barnica said. “Many of the kids with AFM are not as capable, they’re still wheel-chair bound or ventilator-dependent. … So we’re very grateful for the recovery he’s had.”

Jay Barnica, Nathan’s father, said that it wasn’t just the sport that helped in his son’s recovery, but the bowling community in general, including Dutch Lanes owner Eric Montgomery, his brother Todd, and Nathan’s coaches, Dean Loux and Dick Alexander.

Jay Barnica also said that members of the Warwick bowling team, with whom Nathan bowled in the Saturday morning league, visited him in the hospital.

“This support was incredibly important to Nate,” Jay Barnica said.

Nathan Barnica admits that he probably won’t ever get completely back to the way he was before contracting AFM — there’s that hitch in his delivery.

Still, his story has a happy ending.

“I love being able to bowl,” he said. “I am so thankful to have this opportunity. Sometimes, I may look angry and down, but deep down I’m just happy I’m here.”

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