Orono football player has special bond to Shrine Bowl

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Todd Ellis was 14 months old the last time he was inside a Shriners medical facility.

His right hand and more than 90 percent of his face was severely burned when he was caught in a sudden backdraft from a wood stove after his father opened the door to check the fire.

Ellis spent 10 days in intensive care at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor before a family friend who was also a Shriner suggested to Ellis’ parents that they transfer him to the Shriners Boston Burns Institute, a world-renowned facility.

“We just weren’t happy with the results we were getting and at the time, we knew somebody who could get us in,” said Dawn Anderson, Ellis’ mother.

Ellis was accepted by the Shriners and three days later, released to his parents’ care. After two months of rehabilitation involving stretching exercises and massages, and another six months wearing protective equipment, it was virtually impossible to tell he’d been burned at all.

“They never had to do any surgery,” said Anderson. “They told us on his last visit that if we weren’t comfortable with the way he looked, we could have some minor plastic surgery done down the road.”

The option for more surgery was never taken, but today, the only visible reminders of the accident are the slightly loose, wrinkly skin on the right side of Ellis’ face and right ear plus a discoloration which makes his right hand appear as though it’s somewhat dirty.

The past 16 years and nine months have turned that badly burned little boy into a 6-foot-2, 285-pound high school graduate.

Before he begins his collegiate years, Ellis will get an unusual chance to repay a debt … A huge debt he says he owes to the Shriners and all the people who make facilities like the burn institute and the Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children possible.

Ellis is one of the 88 players chosen to play in the 12th annual Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic all-star benefit football game Friday in Biddeford. As important and memorable as Friday may be for Ellis, it will surely pale in comparison to Monday, when he returns to a Shriners facility for the first time since he was a patient. This time, he’ll arrive as an honored guest who will try and spread cheer, hope and optimism to children hurt as badly or even worse than he once was.

An early brush with tragedy

Ellis wasn’t even aware of what had happened to him on that October 23rd day back in 1984, after his father opened the stove door to check and see if the fire had lit. He has almost no memory of it now.

“The scars were long gone by the time I was aware of anything,” he said. “I know everything about it from my parents, but it’s probably just as well that I don’t really remember it.”

His mother wishes she could forget.

“We weren’t sure if he’d be able to bend his fingers again or if he was going to lose his eyesight. The doctors in Bangor wanted to remove his ear, but we didn’t want to do that. It was scary,” she recalled.

Anderson had to regularly massage her son’s face and hand with a medication containing hydrocortisone and Ellis was fitted with a web-like protective glove on his hand to both protect it and keep the skin stretched as it healed.

“They also fit him with a plastic chin cup thing to keep the skin on his face from thickening so it would stay smooth and flat and not web together,” Anderson said.

His treatments and corrective equipment did their job. Ellis and his parents are happy with the results.

“His hand and the right side of his hand are a little wrinkly, but I’m quite pleased with his face. It’s a handsome face,” Anderson said. “It looks like he’s aged a little on one side and he has to shave all the time because he can’t grow a full beard.”

Embodiment of the Shrine ideal

Ellis is a living example of what Shriners hospitals can accomplish, a fact which hasn’t gone unnoticed by him.

“Absolutely. Just to give back to the organization that helped me as much as it did is great,” Ellis said. “It’s almost like the last chapter in a book, and I’ve got a chance to end the last sentence with an exclamation point.”

A starting two-way lineman for three seasons at Orono, Ellis will be one of 44 East players who will attempt to notch just the second win for the East in 12 years.

He played center and defensive tackle for the Red Riots, but Ellis doesn’t care where he plays in the annual all-star game, which is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start at Biddeford High School’s Waterhouse Field.

“Just to be there is perfect. Wherever they want to put me is fine. I’m just glad to be a part of it,” said Ellis, who is the only Orono player invited to participate.

Playing in the game is something Ellis has dreamed about since his cousin, Peter Kenny of Bucksport, played in it seven years ago.

“I’ve been trying to keep in shape so I don’t make myself look like a fool. I’m probably going to get knocked around a little,” Ellis said. “Most of my teammates have been really happy for me. They told me not to get my butt kicked too bad.”

For someone with Ellis’ history, that doesn’t sound like a tall order. In addition to his burn accident, Ellis has also had to overcome asthma, which he was diagnosed with at age 5; a broken hip, which he didn’t even discover until a month or so after it was broken, making it necessary for doctors to rebreak and set it; and the tragic, accidental shooting death of his stepsister, Bridget Burke, last year.

“It’s been an especially rough couple of years for him,” said Anderson, who is now divorced from Ellis’ father, Ensign Ellis, and married to Danny Anderson.

Despite the hardships and setbacks, Ellis has done well in school, especially in sports. He was a three-sport starter (football, basketball and baseball) at Orono and hopes to earn enough credits and build a high enough grade point average his freshman year to transfer from the University of Maine-Augusta to the University of Maine flagship campus and try to walk on to the football team.

“I’d really like to go up to Orono and play football, but we’ll see what happens,” said the Veazie native, who is interested in becoming either a middle school teacher or a sports broadcaster.

But for the next week, Ellis will have his mind solely on the game and all the activities around it.

“The game itself will be great but the kids are what it’s all about,” he said. “I’m nervous about it, but I can’t wait. Just seeing them is going to be an eye-opener. It’s probably going to hit me like a ton of bricks when I get there.”

“I think this is very inspiring for him,” Anderson said. “He’s very excited about it. I’m very excited about it.”

“Todd’s giving back something that they gave to him. If we hadn’t gone there, I think the chances of the degree of healing he has had would have been a lot worse.”

When asked how he would approach the game itself and whether he would dedicate it or his effort to anyone or anything in particular, he thought about his answer for only a few seconds.

“If I dedicate it to anything, I’d definitely dedicate it to the Shriners for all the help they’ve given to me,” he said. “I can’t think of anyone better, especially for this.”