The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It’s been almost a year since Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands had surgery on his right knee that he popped out while competing in the final of the men’s triple jump in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. But since then, he’s slowly, steadily improving.

In what he described as his “road to recovery,” Sands is having his comeback documented by a group of Bahamians, led by entertainer Brandon ‘Sosa Man’ Major, photographer Ferreno Ferguson and videographer Stephen Hanna.

“I came up with this idea to document it,” Sands said. “I went to three Olympics. I got injured at the Olympics, so I thought it was a good idea. I called my cousin Sosa and told him let’s do something together. He’s been blowing up the radio with his songs, so I always wanted to do something with him.

“I told him that we should do something together because nobody has approached me about doing a documentary on my road to recovery. I told him it will be a great story because I’m willing to come back from my injury and even if I don’t do it, but if I do, if I come back and win a medal, the story would be even greater.”

Who knows, Sands said a movie might just be in the making when it’s all said and done.

“People are thinking that I won’t be able to make the comeback, but I want to get over the fear of the injury and come back to being 100 per cent where I can show people that I can achieve anything, once you put your mind to it and you believe in yourself and trust in God,” he said.

“I want to be able to motivate the younger kids because a lot of people believe that when they have an injury, they can’t come back from it. I want to show the younger people that nothing can stop you once you put your mind to it.”

Ten months after the surgery, which was done two days after the injury at a hospital in London, Sands said his rehabilitation has been going great.

“I’ve been running the beach, working out in the pool and I’m running faster now,” he said. “I deal with a little swelling now, but that’s normal. I’m running a lot faster. So I’m getting through it. I just want to be able to get back out there so that I can start representing my country once again.

“I’m watching everybody on the European circuit and it’s hard. So I just want to get back out there. My physical therapy is coming along very good. When I go back to Auburn, I intend to pick it up another notch. The team in Auburn and Atlanta have been doing a pretty good job.”

Sands, the bronze medallist from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, 2003 World Championships in Paris, France and the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, said he is looking at a time frame of next year to be back in action. He just wants to make sure that he is properly healed.

“I’ve already gotten the muscle back in my quad, so I’m going to strengthen my legs and stuff for the rest of this year,” he said. “I will see how I feel by indoors and then I will probably do a couple of meets. But next year is an off year, so I maybe looking at the Commonwealth Games as my comeback meet.”

The local media team that has been filming the 31-year-old’s recovery has been impressed with what they’ve seen.

Major, the executive producer, has been responsible for putting everything together and getting it on the market after Ferguson and Hanna film and edit all of the material.

“It’s coming along good. Leevan called me the Monday after the Super Bowl and he sounded a little down about his rehab,” he said. “After he said nobody seemed interested in doing a story, he was willing to dig into his pocket and get it done himself. After he went into his pocket to get it started, the sponsors are now coming out and lending their support.

“We travelled to Auburn and spent five days there shooting a lot of stuff. We came back here for the CARIFTA Games and did about three days of recording and now we’re back together this weekend to do some more recording. We hope to shoot some more at Miss Bahamas. So it’s a long process. We hope to bring it all out in parts leading up to Rio.”

Major said when Sands goes for the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, they just want to make sure that they had his comeback well documented.

Ferguson said when he was invited to join the team, he jumped at the opportunity because he felt that somebody needed to record the history of Sands.

“Twenty years from now when somebody else is jumping, they should know the Leevan Sands story,” Ferguson said. “They will get Leevan in his prime talking about what is going on with him. So me and Stephen decided to take on the weight of telling the story of Leevan Sands. Hopefully more will come. Leevan Sands is the jump off point, but we have so much more people out there who are making waves for the Bahamas.”

A sneak preview is expected to be released as a combo music and documentary around July 13, just after the independence celebrations.