Lawrence Middle School teachers turn out to support colleague’s son
By Scott Brinton
On July 16, 2016, Yianni Hatzikontos was a passenger in a car traveling on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from Astoria, Queens, to Brooklyn. He did not know the driver was under the influence, according to his brother, Dimitri. The car crashed en route. Yianni suffered a traumatic brain injury and could no longer speak, walk or swallow.
The then 21-year-old was placed on life support, his survival hanging in the balance.
A little over a decade later, on Oct. 3, 2026, Hatzikontos walked the length of a parking lot at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow with a spotter and was recognized as the Brain Injury Association of New York State’s Long Island Honoree for his courage during his long and painful recovery.
“Look at me now,” Hatzikontos told the audience of roughly 200 gathered under a stand of shade trees near the park’s Field One, a smile etched across his face. “We are truly blessed.”
“We would take two steps forward and sometimes life would bring us back,” said his mother, Maria Karvelas, who teaches algebra and geometry at Lawrence Middle School in the Lawrence School District. “Keep fighting. We keep fighting, and we keep going. Four years of rehab — and now we are traveling the world.”
She was referring to trips to the Dominican Republic and the family’s homeland of Greece, where Yianni enjoys looking out on the sea from the beach.
Hatzikontos can walk, but in brief bursts. He still needs a wheelchair. He spoke to the crowd on Saturday, but in short sentences.
He spent four years in inpatient rehabilitation at the 200-bed Park Terrace Care Center in Rego Park, Queens, where slowly he relearned and regained the life skills that were abruptly taken away from him. At 32, he now lives at home in Astoria with his mom and receives outpatient rehabilitation.
“His mother is a powerhouse,” said Tina Getsios, regional rehabilitation director at Park Terrace, who oversaw Hatzikontos’s long-term care. “She’s the miracle behind this process. If not for her, I don’t know [if] he’d be here.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Hatzikontos’s sister, Cindy, 35. “My mom worked really hard to get him home,” she said. “I appreciate her and my family so much. We’ve accomplished so many of our goals because of her.”
To see Yianni honored before his family, friends and supporters — including a sizable contingent of Lawrence Middle School teachers — was a “milestone” for the Hatzikontos family, 26-year-old Dimitri said.
“It’s a blessing to see a huge community” supporting Yianni, he said. “All three of us as siblings have gone through our own trials and triumphs, but watching Yianni grow has been inspirational.”
Since leaving Park Terrace, Yianni has become an athlete. He’s now a member of Achilles International’s Queens chapter, which offers walking, running and cycling programs for athletes with disabilities. Achilles International has chapters throughout the five boroughs.
A number of Team Achilles members were on hand to celebrate Hatzikontos on Saturday. One of them was Cynthia Freeman, 47, a Queens chapter board member and athlete herself. Team Achilles participants go “at their own pace,” she said.
Some may walk a short distance. Others take part in triathlons. Some compete using handcycles or racing wheelchairs.
Team Achilles meets on Sundays at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, near the famed Unisphere. Yianni is ever upbeat, said Freeman, who suffers from sacroiliac joint syndrome, a debilitating condition affecting the joints connecting the lower spine and pelvis.
“He’s got such a sense of humor, so I love our conversations,” she said. “I love standing there, sitting close and having a laugh with him.”
The Brain Injury Association of New York State advocates for brain-injury patients, acting as a liaison between them and their caregivers, said Christina LeBeau, the organization’s director of advocacy and engagement. The organization helps families of patients who have sustained brain injuries before age 22 navigate the complexities of the medical system.
The Eisenhower Park event was one part of BIANYS’s March On for Brain Injury 2026 campaign. Its fundraising goal is $120,000, and BIANYS is “very close” to meeting it, LeBeau said.
For more or to donate, go to BIANYS.org.
