How a Former Penn State Basketball Player Became a Game Changer

After recovering from a devastating car accident, Paula Franetti is inspiring others to get well and thrive.

Paula Franetti believes she's a stronger basketball player now than she was as a Penn State point guard in the 1970s. At 67 she's smarter, understands strategy better and maximizes angles more. Franetti also plays with the gift of a second chance, one she has turned into both a basketball renaissance and an opportunity to help others. Seven years ago, Franetti nearly died in a car accident. Today, she's teaching others how she restored her life.

"I’m so passionate about helping people realize the power they have within them to get well," Franetti said. "Anytime you have a catastrophic injury, when you know you’ve got well again and you're back to being you, that’s the most tremendous power."

Franetti, a 1978 Penn State graduate, recently completed her seventh basketball competition at the National Senior Games, which were held in her hometown of Pittsburgh. The Games were more consequential because Franetti won her first gold medal, playing with a few former Penn State teammates, and competed as a Humana Game Changer. She was among 28 of the nearly 12,000 Senior Games athletes who represented Humana's mission to promote healthy aging, competition and wellness. 

Serving as a Humana Game Changer offered Franetti, a rehab specialist and cardiac exercise physiologist, the platform to tell her recovery story. And it deepened her resolve to share the message that "the game's not over because you got injured."

"Some people's stories are much worse than mine," Franetti said. "I hope and pray for them that they have the same outcome I had. And any way I can help them, I will."

Paula Franetti's Story

In September 2016, just a few months after her team had qualified for the 2017 National Senior Games, Franetti was on her way to work when another driver ran a red light, t-boning her driver's side door and sending the car into a row home. Franetti never saw the car and didn't truly understand the accident's impact until doctors removed her ventilator nearly a week later.

Franetti sustained a devastating series of injuries — seven pelvic and five spinal fractures, a collapsed lung, a punctured bladder, a ruptured diaphragm and a concussion among them. She also sustained a torn MCL and meniscus, injuries that would wait to be repaired. Doctors initially couldn't say whether she would walk again. In fact, they told Franetti that few 60-year-olds could have survived such an accident. But she was in good shape with a strong exercise regimen, so basketball helped save her life. Now, it was about to help her reclaim a full life.

As a rehab specialist, Franetti knew better than most how difficult the recovery process would be. Initially, she simply wanted to walk without assistance. Franetti did that for the first time Jan. 1, 2017, taking a half-mile walk on a sunny Pittsburgh day. That marked the first of several setbacks; Franetti pulled a groin muscle and strained a foot arch. She needed to re-calibrate her rehab pace.

Franetti did that through swimming, the exercise that propelled her recovery. Though she re-ruptured her diaphragm, which required surgery in late 2017, Franetti swam her way into conditioning for a return to basketball. In April 2018, Franetti played in a National Senior Games qualifier. "When I stepped onto the court, it brought tears to my eyes," she said. "Now I didn't play very well, but I was on the court, and I was motivated."

Franetti returned to the National Senior Games in 2019, which proved to be the most important milestone. She had gone from wondering whether she'd walk to playing competitive basketball in less than three years. The experience made her grateful for an active life and eager to help others regain theirs. That's when Franetti became the Rebound Planner.

Former Penn State basketball player Paula Franetti, 67, receives her Humana Game Changer medal at the 2023 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh :: Andrew Rush/AP Images for Humana Inc

Helping others

Franetti describes her venture in basketball terms. Successful rebounding requires a player to box out and seal off opponents. Likewise, successful recovery from injury requires a person to box out negative thoughts and focus on what's ahead. So Franetti calls herself the Rebound Planner. Franetti helps those with injuries go beyond healing. She wants them to regain full mobility, independence and their active lifestyles.

"I knew the type of lifestyle I lived, and I just knew the condition I was in at that moment [after the accident] was not who I am," she said. "I think that really played into motivating me to really believe that I could get well. ... I kept thinking, I don't know whether I'll play basketball again, but I know if I keep believing that I'll experience something that makes me feel like me. And that may be satisfying enough."

Having experienced the recovery process, Franetti said she understands how to coach people to find their starting points, set achievable goals and press through setbacks. "Being well is really different than just healing," she said. "When you are emphasizing well being, that’s really discovering who you are and living the life that’s unique to you."

Having played in this year's National Senior Games in her hometown, Franetti already is planning for the 2025 Games. When they hear her story, teammates and opponents find themselves shocked.

"They say, 'You move so fast and so quickly, we can't even imagine that any of that happened,'" Franetti said. "Well, I have the scars all over me, but it's kind of amazing."

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