Coleman Sego enjoyed playing soccer until the very sport he loved nearly took his life.

Five years ago, when Coleman was 12, he was at soccer practice for his middle school travel team in Perry when a bolt of lighting traveled 10 miles from the harmless-looking sky and struck him.

"(The lightning) was out to get me," Coleman said. "I was playing soccer, and the next thing I know I'm in the hospital."

Coleman was rushed to the hospital, and for a while it appeared he might not survive. For eight to 12 minutes, Coleman's brain did not receive oxygen. As each minute passed, his body slipped further into a coma, and at that time, he was considered medically dead.

A team of about 30 doctors, however, managed to save Coleman's life. But because he went so long without oxygen, he suffered traumatic brain injury.

The problems that stemmed from the injury kept Coleman in the hospital for three straight months.

Doctors tried to acclimate Coleman back to the world by stimulating his depleted cognitive skills, but because of the extent of Coleman's brain damage, his cognitive skills were reduced to that of a 6-year-old. They said he also would have to use a wheelchair.

When Coleman finally got out of the hospital, his mother Jami Sego tried stimulating his senses by taking him to busy places. Coleman's friends also helped by bringing him movies, which they hoped would ignite Coleman's emotions. Eventually, the techniques proved useful, Jami said.

But that summer, Coleman suffered from many of the diseases caused by his brain damage — the most notable being Heterotopic Ossification, which tampered with the way calcium perforated throughout his body.

"He was growing tons that summer, but his brain wasn't working properly," Jami said. "His brain wasn't telling the calcium where to go in his body, so it all settled down the left side, which caused him to have Heterotopic Ossification of the hip. He was locked in a position, so he had to have surgery on his hips to free him up."

With the help of physical therapy twice a week at the MSU Clinical Center, Coleman has continued to improve. The classes even helped him stand, with the help of a walker, for short periods of time. Jami said Coleman has made tremendous progress and is about 75 percent better than before.

"He's still making progress cognitively," Jami said. "His upper body is coming along really well, but his lower body will probably always be this way."

Now, five years after the incident, Coleman is a 17-year-old senior at Perry High School.

Coleman's friends call him the "candy man" because he brings candy to school every day, often in exchange for kisses from his female classmates.

In honor of his nickname, he designed a pillow that he refers to as his "symbol."

"My pillow has a 'C' for my name, a lollipop because I'm the candy man and a big old lightning bolt because I was struck by lightning," Coleman said.

As unique as Coleman's pillow is, it has a lot of other embellishments to compete with in his room. Though the symbol on the pillow is self-designed, it was brought to life by the MSU Federal Credit Union.

In July, Coleman won the MSU Federal Credit Union 2006 Ideal Room Makeover, which was established to advertise MSUFCU's equity home loans.

Joyce Banish, vice president of marketing for MSUFCU, said the credit union received about 200 applications. And even though there were many other "qualified" applicants, Coleman's story was unique, she said.

MSUFCU was looking for a person who it could really help, both spiritually and financially, by improving his or her room, Banish said.

"This particular story just stood out because of the hardships (Coleman) had to face," Banish said.

Coleman's room was refurbished with bright orange and green wallpaper, and he was given furniture with lots of storage. His autographed sports posters were framed, while his other sports memorabilia — like his Tony Hawk skateboard and Lansing Lugnuts baseball bat — was mounted on his wall.

"I've got autographed footballs from Bobby Williams and John L. Smith, so when the next football coach comes in, I've got to get one from him," Coleman said, laughing.

The MSUFCU also bought Coleman a floor-to-ceiling bulletin board for the cards and pictures he has received since his accident.

But as much as Coleman loves his new decorations, there is only one thing he really wanted — a new bed.

Prior to winning the contest, Coleman slept in a hospital bed, which was so big it nearly consumed the entire room.

"Coleman had a choice of what he wanted differently in his room," Jami said. "He said he wanted a regular bed."

Being in a wheelchair hasn't stopped Coleman from pursuing a future. When he's ready, he said he hopes to get his driver's license. When he graduates from high school this spring, he said he wants to find a job dealing with art. A framed picture Coleman drew a couple of weeks before the accident sits on his desk. Initially, his middle school teacher, Mr. Scanlon, and Scanlon's wife thought the work was of professional quality.

Members of the Sego family said they have found a silver lining in the black cloud that was Coleman's accident, in the sense that the relationship among the family members has tightened.

"Coleman and I have pretty hard rapport," Jami said. "We bang heads a little bit because I make him do physical things — like stretching and walking — that he doesn't like to do. But we get along better as mother and son than most 17-year-olds and their mothers."

And that is part of the reason MSUFCU selected Coleman as the winner of the contest.

"We just wanted to do something for this family with a single parent," Banish said. "It was a good feeling to help a family that worked so hard to help themselves."

Alex Altman can be reached at altmanal@msu.edu.