On Dec. 8, 2016, Tyler Costaro ’23 found his life upturned. His father and role model, Anthony, had suffered a Grade 5 Ruptured Brain Aneurysm while on a delivery route two hours from his family. The Rockville Center, N.Y. resident had only a 1 percent chance of survival.

“As a 15-year-old kid, I was told this was it,” said Costaro. 

As Anthony lay comatose, Costaro used their joint love of baseball to help bring his father back from the brink of death. Doctors prepared his family for the worst, but Costaro refused to give up, pleading for Anthony to touch the baseball he put at his bedside. And Anthony did—the first sign of brain function in more than 24 hours. 

For an additional month, Anthony remained comatose. However, his first outing from the hospital that spring was to Costaro’s varsity baseball game for South Side High School. Today, he still spends his days doing physical and mental recovery, which includes working with Tyler on baseball.

“Before everything happened, I was very undecided about what I wanted to do with my life,” said Costaro, who has enrolled as Psychology major with a minor in Education, and is a member of the Arcadia Knights baseball team. “With what happened, I had to take on a new role, and I realized how much I enjoy seeing others succeed. If you had asked me three years ago if I wanted to be a teacher, I would’ve said absolutely not, but now I know this is what I want to do.”

On move-in day, the Costaro’s story of overcoming tragedy caught the attention of The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Aaron Carter for his new podcast, “Heart of the City,” which showcases how sports has made a significant impact in people’s lives. The Costaro family’s story is anticipated to air later this month.