Mr. Salerno is a substitute teacher here at Timberlane Regional High School. He started substituting in 2018 down at the middle school and has become a favorite among the students. Over the summer Salerno suffered a severe injury that changed his life. 

The first question we asked him was, what happened? Salerno responded with this; “By doing something the wrong way, but the faster way. Which is wrong to do it that way.” He then continued his story to say how he was trying to do a task he does often, but this time it didn’t work in his favor. 

Salerno was trying to hang up a sun blocker in his window. One of his feet was standing on a 3 foot speaker while the other foot was on the edge on an end table. He said the end table slipped leaving his foot with nothing to stand on. He fell awkwardly and ended up breaking his right femur. He was originally walking with 2 crutches, but has since downgraded to one. His doctor said he may need surgery in the upcoming months.

This has affected his everyday life and it was a tough transition for him to come back to school. He was not able to drive after returning from the hospital, so that was a challenge for him. Salerno also talked about how he can’t wait to make a recovery so he can return to the gym and hit leg day.

Salerno has a long road to recovery ahead of him, but he has planned to return next year for his last year of substituting.