Brendon McCaughey, Millennium Hall of Fame

Richard Dunn

It’s a cliche for some, but living from day to day is the real

challenge for Costa Mesa’s Brendon McCaughey, the former Mater Dei High

basketball standout.

Once a thriving shooter and one of the team’s tallest players at

6-foot-2, McCaughey has a different perspective on the court these days.

“(McCaughey) was a helluva shooter,” said his former coach at Mater

Dei, Jerry Tardie of Balboa Peninsula. “He was a real likable guy, kind

of loosey-goosey. Everybody liked him.”

The summer of 1974, only weeks after graduating from Mater Dei,

McCaughey was expected to play for Coach Herb Livsey at Orange Coast

College. But McCaughey suffered whiplash in an automobile accident and

injured his lower back, which never fully recovered, ending all hopes and

dreams of playing college basketball.

McCaughey moved on.

But, then, another tragedy struck 16 years later. On June 5, 1990,

McCaughey was playing in the ocean with his two children at Bolsa Chica

State Beach.

He jumped innocently into the water to “sneak up behind” his kids and

“play with them,” but crashed into a sand bar and broke his neck.

McCaughey has been a quadriplegic since and is confined to a wheelchair.

“I can move from my chest up, and my arms ... I have limited use of my

hands,” McCaughey said. “That’s what it is ... living day to day.”

Despite his obvious handicaps, McCaughey remains positive and focused,

at times talking to others who are afflicted by quadriplegia.

“I try to get their spirits up, (and) tell them don’t give up, just

like (the late and former North Carolina State basketball coach) Jim

Valvano,” McCaughey said. “Never give up.”

McCaughey, raised in Costa Mesa, refuses to give up.

“After the accident happened, I could have given up on everything, but

I didn’t,” McCaughey said. “I just fought through it and live day by day.

I don’t get down on myself, because who knows? Someday ... anything can

happen.”

McCaughey, a 13-year employee for Anheiser Busch prior to his ocean

accident, attends Irvine Valley College, where he’s studying computer

science and adaptive physical education to strengthen his upper body.

“(McCaughey) was quite an athlete,” added Tardie, Mater Dei’s first

All-CIF basketball player in 1960 and also the Monarchs’ athletic

director in the 1970s along with his basketball duties.

McCaughey, who lives in Costa Mesa, has two children: daughter

Michelle, 17, and son Michael, 16. Both live with their mother.

McCaughey is the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of

Fame.