Quinton Head

Standing Tall

By: Marlene Brueggemann, Issue date: 11/16/04

Quinton Head almost never made it to the top of the Hill.

He has proven that he's adaptable, but coming to Western almost became something out of his reach. And being only 3 feet tall is only part of the reason. He has spent most of his life with his legs stopping at the knees, and most of his fingers ending at the first knuckle.

After his feet and parts of his fingers had to be amputated when he was a baby, Quinton adapted to his disability with confidence, humor and creativity and is now on his way to conquering the Hill as an art education major.

The Clarksville, Tenn. freshman is hard to overlook.Sometimes it's the shoes - those green and white Nike sneakers, that he wears backwards - on his knees.

"I don't do this to be seen or anything, I do this to be comfortable," Quinton said about the backwards wear. "(It's) very eye-catching, like a girl with big boobs. But I do get attention from everybody, guys, girls, little kids."

His disability wasn't the only obstacle to garnering a college education for Quinton.

After finishing high school, Quinton's matriculation to Bowling Green took two years.

He had moved out of his parents' house, and got in trouble with the law for theft, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to appear in court.

It all happened within two weeks, and they were the worst two of his life, Head said. The judge in his case gave him a choice: Either go to jail or go to college. Head picked the latter and now tries to stay out of trouble on the Hill.

Apparently the challenges of life don't have height requirements.

Knubs

What Quinton calls "the incident" happened when he was 8 months old. He doesn't remember much, he said, but he knows it involved hot water.

Shirley Head, Quinton's adoptive mother, said that she was told his birth mother scalded him with hot water and didn't take him to the hospital to get treated. His condition became so severe that his feet and fingers had to be amputated.

Quinton said he got his first pair of prosthetic legs when he was 4. He still has them, just like his first shoes, a pair of British Knights.

Not having feet has its advantages sometimes, Head said. He never had to fight over socks with his siblings and he never has to worry about athlete's foot either.

"I usually don't look at it as a curse, as much as I do as a blessing."

And being used to it from back when he was a child, Quinton has also adapted emotionally to his situation. It's more about making the people around him feel comfortable, he said.

"I just try to tell a joke to break the ice and then everyone will laugh, and they won't feel as uncomfortable. One thing I want people to be around me, is comfortable."

Head even had enough confidence to adopt "knubs" as his nickname. In a four-pointed star, the word is tattooed on his stomach.

Assistant professor Tim Miller has Head in his Math 100 class at South Campus. He said one of the first things he noticed about Head is that he is always upbeat, and always has kind words for others.

"At the beginning of my class term I told my students that I was very impressed with Quinton's attitude, because he never lets his disability handicap him," Miller said.

His mother, however, worries about him sometimes.

"He has a really nice personality," Shirley Head said. "He likes to be around people and crack jokes, but being funny is not gonna get him through life."

Lyrics

Just like his legs stop at the knee, most of Head's fingers stop at the first knuckle. When they are not holding a cigarette or playing with the blue pocket watch around his neck, his "knubs" are comfortable writing songs.

Quinton's lyrics fill five or six notebooks, their covers elaborately decorated with cut-out comic images, cars and beautiful girls. The assembled cut-out words and phrases present an array of mottos -- no boundaries, second to none, enjoy the difference and don't let the size fool you.

Some of the books' bindings are coming apart. The page edges show a yellow tint, but their content is neat and orderly, filled with lyrics from top to bottom, front and back.

In one of his notebooks, the year 1999 is written next the song entitled "Dear Mom."

Dear mom why did you scar me for life?/ Did I do something or was there stress in your life/ It couldn't have been my fault of course I was only 8 months when this happened/

Turned 13 and channeled all my anger to rapp'n / Everyday I look at my burnt skin tissue...

Between the actions of his birth mother and countless other obstacles life creates, Quinton had plenty of chances to take a seat. And most would probably never blame him.

But that is not the path he wants to follow. Instead, Quinton is more comfortable climbing Western's campus in a pair of well worn green and white Nikes.

Reach Marlene Brueggemann at features@wkuherald.com.