GREAT FALLS — More than three decades after setting what many consider Montana’s most untouchable high school track and field record, Dennis Black is celebrating a very different kind of achievement:
Survival.
WATCH DENNIS BLACK DISCUSS HIS INJURY AND RECOVERY:
At the State AA track and field meet in 1991, Black launched the shot put 68 feet, ½ inch while competing for Great Falls High School, a mark that remains the all-class Montana High School Association record. That same season, he also set the Memorial Stadium record with a toss of 70-7.
No one has come within four feet of that mark in the three-plus decades since.
“It’s very humbling and very much an honor to know that 35 years ago, I did something that’s never been touched,” Black said.
The throw propelled him into a college career at Montana State and Upper Iowa University and eventually a spot at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1992, 1996 and 2000. But nothing in his life as an elite athlete prepared him for the fight he faced last year.
While watching a movie with his brother, Black tripped on a piece of flooring and fell headfirst onto hardwood. At first, he thought he was fine.
“I originally initially thought I was OK,” he said. “My brother Jeff came to check on me, and I was like, 'I’m just going to lay here, get my breath. I’ll be out in a few.' But the impact was intense enough that the swelling overcame my rational senses, and I blacked out.”
By the time he arrived at the hospital, doctors believed he would not survive.
“They were just going to let me die, thinking that would be the most humane thing,” Black said.
Black was bleeding internally. To save his life, surgeons removed the entire right side of his skull and stored it in a Tupperware container in the refrigerator for 10 days while the bleeding subsided.
“They put my skull back in and zipped me all up,” he said.
When he awoke from surgery, he could not form sentences or perform basic tasks. Eventually, doctors implanted a shunt to relieve the swelling.
“It was like flipping a light switch,” Black said.
He spent nearly two months in the hospital relearning how to walk, speak and eat.
“They taught me how to walk again, how to speak, how to eat,” he said. “Everything you take for granted becomes a different game when you’ve suffered a (traumatic brain injury).”
Back home in Great Falls, Black’s family, friends and community rallied around him. His brother, Kevin Black, called the recovery “remarkable.”
“It’s been relieving and very inspirational to see how somebody can have half their skull removed and be doing as well as he is,” Kevin said.
Today, Dennis and Kevin work alongside each other at Old Mill Gift in Great Falls, focusing on creative projects he said have given him new purpose.
“It’s been miraculous,” Dennis Black said. “I enjoy what I’m doing. I’m actually being creative, which is something I’ve never been. It’s been a lifesaver — being able to do something for somebody and feel like I’m productive.”
Despite everything he has endured, Black hopes to see his storied shot-put record eventually fall.
“I’ve always said I want to be the guy that shakes the kid’s hand who breaks my record,” he said.
In the meantime, he has another goal in mind.
“Either my record is going to get broken or we’re going to catch a legendary catfish in the Missouri that’s this big,” he said, gesturing wide with his hands. “One of them is going to happen before I leave this pleasant place.”
