Embedded memory: Former Geibel basketball star recalls tragedy
Shelley Bortz Ligashesky is shown above, during her basketball playing days at Geibel Catholic, and at bottom right, today. Ligashesky and her best friend, Kerri Welc (top right), were teammates at Gannon University when they were involved in tragic two-car accident on April 1, 1994, that left Welc dead and Ligashesky with life-threatening injuries.
Shelley Bortz
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Submitted photo
Geibel Catholic graduate Shelley Bortz is shown during her playing days at Gannon University. Bortz was the leading vote-getter in the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020/2021 member voting and will be joined by 12 other new inductees.
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Shelley Bortz Ligashesky has a happy life for the most part.
The 40-year-old Geibel Catholic graduate lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Bob Ligashesky, an NFL special teams coordinator for the Texans, and their 4-year-old daughter Sydney.
She graduated from Gannon University in 1997 with a degree in communications, has worked as a television news anchor/reporter for years in numerous states and has excelled in the pageant world, having been named Mrs. Pennsylvania in 2008, qualifying her for the Mrs. America Pageant, and Mrs. Ohio in 2010, qualifying her for the Mrs. United States Pageant.
Ligashesky was a star basketball player for the Lady Gators — she still holds the school’s career scoring record with 1,977 points — and earned a basketball scholarship to Gannon University.
Despite all her success, though, there is a sad, tragic memory she has lived with for the last 20 years.
It was the night of April 1, 1994, when Ligashesky was sitting next to her best friend and Gannon basketball teammate Kerri Welc of Mount Pleasant in the backseat of a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by her brother, George Bortz IV. Larry Renaldi was in the passenger seat of the car.
At 11:35 p.m., another vehicle would slam into their Cavalier. All four of them would be hospitalized with serious injuries. Welc would not survive.
“It was Easter weekend, and Kerri and I were home on break from college,” Ligashesky recalled in thinking back to that fateful day. “I remember being really excited about spending that evening with Kerri, George and his friend, Larry Renaldi.
“Kerri drove to my house from Mount Pleasant. George, Kerri and I got in the car and drove to pick Larry up at his house. We went to a local restaurant/bar to listen to one of our favorite bands. The place was very crowded and the only open table was right next to a speaker. We didn’t stay long because it was too loud. So we got back in the car, not knowing where we would go next.
“My last recollection before the accident was giggling with Kerri in the backseat while reapplying our lip gloss. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital.”
Bortz was driving through an intersection in North Union Township when, according to the state police report, a vehicle driven by 16-year-old Christopher R. Porter of Uniontown ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and slammed into the car.
Bortz, who suffered a concussion and bruised ribs, was able to free himself from the car, but the other three had to be cut out of the wreckage.
Renaldi suffered a fractured pelvis and a severe head laceration. A passenger in Porter’s car, Danny McGee of Uniontown, was also injured. Porter was not.
Welc was taken to Uniontown Hospital with internal injuries. She suffered a ruptured aorta and was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m.
“I learned that Kerri died the next day when I woke up in the hospital,” Ligashesky said. “My parents (George Bortz III and Christine Andrews) told me about the accident and before they could finish, I remember saying, ‘Where is Kerri?’ But somehow, deep down, I already knew.”
Ligashesky’s injuries were life-threatening as well, but she survived. She underwent 24 hours of surgery over the next three days. Her friend was gone and her basketball career seemed to be over.
“My pelvis was shattered, my right femur was broken, along with both forearms, my left thumb and collarbone,” she recalled. “In addition, my bladder was ruptured and my kidney and colon were torn.”
Ligashesky had two plates placed in her right arm, one in her left arm, six into her pelvis and a rod into her femur.
“Now I have five pounds of metal in my body as a result,” she said.
Most doctors doubted Ligashesky would ever play basketball again.
She was determined to return to Gannon’s basketball team, however.
“It was a long haul getting back on the basketball court. But my love of basketball and Kerri were the two things that drove me,” she said. “The doctors told me I may not walk again, but if I did I would never run. Which, ultimately, meant I would never do what I loved most — playing basketball.
“Hearing those words fueled me. From that point on I made it my mission to prove them wrong. I was in the hospital for three weeks, then confined to a wheelchair for three months. It was about one and a half years from my first day of rehab to my first competitive basketball game. It was exhilarating and sad at the same time. I made it, I survived, I wasn’t a victim anymore — I was a victor.
“But … I was doing it without my best friend.”
Porter was charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, along with several other charges. His punishment wasn’t nearly severe enough, though, according to Ligashesky.
“He was tried as a juvenile and spent only six months in a detention center,” she said. “At the time, it bothered me that in six months he was back to a normal life … school, friends, activities.
“After six months, I was still learning how to walk again, and Kerri was gone. It never seemed fair. Twenty years later, I try not to think about the injustice. Instead, I focus my energy on keeping the memory of Kerri alive.”
Ligashesky noted that Mount Pleasant Area High School still annually awards the Kerri A. Welc Memorial Scholarship, which gives $1,500 to a deserving female senior who is entering her freshman year of college. She will be presenting the award at this year’s ceremony on May 27 at the high school.
Ligashesky is happy with how her life has progressed since the accident. She even got to experience a close-up view of a Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl championship when her husband was the team’s special teams coach in 2008, and she still lives in Pittsburgh part time.
“My daughter Sydney keeps us very busy with school and activities,” she said. “In my spare time, I volunteer for the Southeast Texas Affiliate of MADD.”
Ligashesky still picks up a basketball fairly often.
“Yes! Basketball is still, and always will be, a part of my life,” she said. “I’m at the gym almost every day and, whether it’s before my workout or after, I always grab a ball and shoot for 15 to 30 minutes. Sometimes I get to run a game or two.
“I may not run as fast or jump as high as I did prior to the accident, but I am practically pain-free.”
Ligashesky refuses to let her memory of the accident and Welc go. She even posted a picture on her Facebook page noting the 20-year anniversary of the tragic crash with a picture of Welc’s tombstone and the phrase, “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already. I miss you so much Kerri — more and more every day.”
“I think about the accident quite often,” she said. “It’s never far from my mind.”
Ligashesky tries to find a positive in the tragedy.
“I learned a lot about life and myself from that one moment,” she said. “I learned how strong I can be when tested. I learned how to rise from desolate places where God seems far away.
“And, most importantly, I learned how to love unconditionally because, at any moment, life can end.”