LITTLETON — As Halloween nears, so does the resurrection of dark memories for Scott Robb. He nearly died six years ago on Halloween. “I haven’t been the same since,” said Robb, now a Littleton senior. “It’s my least favorite holiday.”
A qualifier for the Class 4A portion of the boys golf state championships, to be played Monday and Tuesday at Fox Hill Country Club in Longmont, Robb learned to use the game as a means to get his life back.
“It allowed him to regain his strength and confidence,” said his father, John Robb.
As a sixth-grader, Scott Robb loved baseball and participated on his school’s wrestling team, he said, “because it was what they offered.” One night, when his older brother Jack asked him to display some wrestling moves, Scott had to stop. His stomach was hurting and no matter how many times his brother teased him about “being soft,” Scott couldn’t do anything about it.
“At first I thought it was the flu,” he said.
He was initially diagnosed with appendicitis. After that diagnosis proved wrong, he was told he had an infection that could be treated with antibiotics.
The pain continued to mount.
Robb said his mother, Patricia, “proved to be a hero.” Twice. First, he said she begged doctors to do a second CT scan, which revealed he had a burst appendix. She also demanded a second check that revealed a series of abscesses that covered organs. Robb underwent surgery, during which an 8-inch incision was made to treat his condition.
His hospital stay lasted 40 days. He lost layers of fat in his torso that protect vital areas. He was on a feeding tube for a month and lost 40 pounds. He took morphine to dull the pain. He had a collapsed lung and blood clots in his lungs. And all he could seemingly do was sleep like a hibernating bear.
The New York Yankees fan remembers his parents awakened him for the final out of the 2009 World Series, a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, but he doesn’t remember much else.
The most important thing, Robb said, was that he got out of the hospital.
His climb back was arduous. Robb’s father called it “a bad situation,” what with his son’s lack of strength, being on blood thinners and his inability to sustain endurance.
Playing baseball, his first love in sports, was out of the question, so he was introduced to golf.
“If I didn’t try something active,” he said, “I would have gone crazy.”
He hooked up at his home course, Columbine Country Club, with assistant professional Matt Marino, who’s now at Tigers Woods’ Bluejack National in Houston.
Robb, who said he was “terrible” at the outset, learned about discipline and how to fight back through picking up a golf club. The two worked out a deal: Whoever hit a bad shot on the range had to do a push-up. Then five push-ups, then 10 push-ups. It was quite different for the golfing set.
“They were looking at us sideways around here,” Robb said.
But it worked, and now he has an opportunity to make a statement about overcoming a near-death experience.
“He’s a terrific kid,” said longtime Lions coach Kevin Burdick. “He has played varsity all four years, a state qualifier for the last two, and it has been fun to watch him grow, including as a young man. We have watched him shave off a few strokes each year.”
Lions senior Sam Schroer, who also had a bout with appendicitis, said he and Robb “bonded” over it and that he isn’t surprised how well his friend has done.
“I think it just adds to the whole dedication thing, especially when he was that low and down, so close to death, then able to come back and excel at a sport,” Schroer said. “He has shown true dedication, and he’s one of the hardest workers I’ve seen.”
Robb, a 2.2 handicapper, shrugs off the praise, saying he’s simply using his mother’s mantra — “Better, not bitter” — and refers back to when he first played golf. His hands would bleed because of the blood thinners, so he said he took on a “Rocky” montage.
He counts himself as a challenger for Class 4A medalist, and others agree.
“Potentially, he could be right there in the mix,” Burdick said.
Robb has a 4.2 grade-point average and a score of 33 on the ACT, and has applied to Tulane, Duke, Vanderbilt and Stanford. He hopes to use the confidence he has gained through and after his health problems to keep improving.
“I’m as good a ball striker as anyone out there,” he said. “If I play well, I hope to be up there.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or @neildevlin
