In some ways, Landon Gray shouldn’t be here.
In October 2016, at the age of eight, he suffered constant strokes and was diagnosed with a rare condition -- central nervous system vasculitis.
According to the Vasculitis Foundation, it affects 2.4 cases per 1 million people every year. It’s even rarer to be diagnosed in a child. Affecting the brain and spinal cord, the condition causes inflammation in blood vessels, leading to chronic headaches, strokes, muscle weakness/paralysis, and more.
For Gray, it meant scary tests to figure out what was wrong (including cutting into his brain) and years of visits to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. It also means the possibility of dementia-like symptoms developing between the ages of 18 and 20, a fact he delivered so casually, it almost didn’t feel like he was talking about himself.
According to his mother, Jennifer Pryor, he has 10 dead spots on his brain. At any point, as his brain keeps developing and changing, he can start having seizures. He also has permanent damage to his frontal lobe, and there’s still no clue as to how that could affect him going forward.
Not to mention, in the middle of all this, Gray dealt with the deaths of his stepmother and father.
However, Landon’s never let that stop him. He credits the team of doctors who never stopped in their pursuit to help him.
“It’s because they didn’t stop fighting for me, and that’s one of those things, like, when I don’t feel like getting up in the morning, I just think about the doctors not stopping, and I get up in the morning and I continue with my day,” he said.
While he’s had to stop sports that he loved due to the possibility of head injuries, he doesn’t let the tremor he’s left with in his left hand get in the way. The lanky senior at Chandler High School is first chair trumpet in the marching band, and even made the Cimarron Valley honor band his sophomore year.
He learned to work around his limitations. When the tremor posed obstacles, he learned to play the trumpet one-handed, with the help of former Chandler band director Rachel Karger. She said landing on the trumpet came through a process of limitation.
“Honestly, he did the most work. Of course, I taught, guided, and helped, but the other obstacles he faced, he had to work out on his own sometimes…That drive and determination is what made him so successful,” Karger said.
His current band director, Zac Fisher, agreed, saying his work ethic is what stands out the most.
“He has some fairly severe physical limitations, and he refuses to let it slow him down. He does everything all the other students do in marching band with essentially one hand, moves equipment when necessary, and never complains about any of it,” he said.
Gray doesn’t always see the tremors as a limit. “There’s times that I feel like it does, but you got to work around it. Can’t let one thing stop your life,” he said.
Gray turned his music into an opportunity to be involved in the military. While he had hoped to follow a family tradition and join the armed forces, his medical condition ruled that out. So, instead, he plays TAPS at military funerals and community events.
He has received two challenge coins from the American Legion and a two-star general from the National Guard. He plays because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it allows him to honor someone. And it’s something he plans to continue.
“I don’t want people to have to deal with the recorded version. I would prefer them to get the raw, real experience of TAPS instead of dealing with that recorded version,” Gray said.
He has also found a way to help people in the future. Landon hopes to attend the University of Central Oklahoma and pursue a degree in digital forensics. He said he’s always wanted to be either in the military or law enforcement, so he looked into what he could do behind the scenes.
“With the digital forensics, I can be doing what I am good at, which is messing with computers and technology, and still being able to help people,” he said.
It’s all part of the lessons he’s learned through not just his medical journey, but through life with a complicated relationship with his father, as well as his death and the death of Mama T, his stepmother.
Landon said his relationship with his father taught him that he could love someone without liking them, and what tough love is. It also helped him to better appreciate the relationships he has with his mother and stepfather, Bo Pryor.
“Bo didn’t have to step up and be my dad. He just chose to. That’s what I want to be like. Someone that chooses love over all the bad stuff,” he said. “Mama T taught me the importance of forgiveness and family (like sticking together through times). Mama T had also showed me that your parents aren’t always going to be there for you, and you gotta be able to move through life and do stuff without them at times.”
Editor’s Note: This is the second in the Senior Spotlight series that will feature graduating seniors from all of the high schools in The Lincoln County News’ coverage area.