Gene Brumby: From Rehabilitation to Redemption

By Matthew T. Gemme



Gene Brumby stands in front of Hall D the San Diego Convention Center soaking in the sight. Hundreds of Magic: The Gathering players buzz by him as he soaks in the moment. The smell of the Star Bucks coffee kiosk down the hall, the sight of so many of his peers, and the feeling that he’s finally made it here.
For Gene Brumby the trip here has been quite the adventure.
He’s overcome injury, mental anguish, and a sea of people all aiming for his spot.
Gene Brumby is a professional Magic: The Gathering Card player. His living is made by traveling the world and selling and playing cards. He also organizes local tournaments in his hometown Wellington, New Zealand.
For Gene this is his life.
And he’s finally got it back.

***


Saturday August 1, 20009 Gene Brumby looks at the 5 o’clock traffic of the busy Auckland commuters, nothing he hasn’t crossed before. On his way to a friend’s house, Gene makes his way across the street. Then, black.
In a daze Gene Brumby wakes up in a small, three seat plane next to two complete strangers. He doesn’t bother to figure out who they are. He’s handed a pair of headphones, and he’s back asleep.
While crossing the street Gene was struck by a car and his head ended up going through the car’s windshield. He suffered numerous injuries:
Broken Ribs.
Torn Ligament in right knee.
Sprained Ligament in left ankle.
Several skull fractures.
Bones broken in ears.
No hearing in his left ear.

Gene is finally brought to a rehabilitation facility outside of Wellington, New Zealand. He can’t help but notice how much this place reminds him of a prison. For Gene, someone who travels the world for a living, this is not a lifestyle he’s ever been used to. However, this is the lifestyle he’s got to get used to. For the next month and more, this will be Gene’s home.
Everyday Gene hears the same discouraging mantra, "You're not going to be as good at things as you are used to." Trying to stay positive is hard for Gene, who is away from his friends, surrounded by some people who will never get better, and smelling the sterile smell of a hospital. Gene hates that smell.
While he works at getting better the world is moving on without him.
He’s unable to work, which over the course of his stay will cost him $2879.80 NZ. Due to Gene’s business, while he’s away the community suffers. With the prospect of not making money for a month, and a community waiting his return, the stay in rehab was hard for Gene.
Once out of rehab, Gene still wasn’t completely back to normal. What he was told by nurses in rehab always stuck in his mind, “Walk, Crawl, Run.”
Gene wasn’t allowed to work right away, which not only meant not being able to hold local tournaments but also attend national ones as well.
The bulk of Gene’s income would take a hit if he could not make these national tournaments, where he does most of his work.
If Gene was not attending and playing in national tournaments he would lose his Pro Tour eligibility, which made getting to these events much more difficult.
As the months dragged on Gene started feeling better and was not holding small events for the community, but he was unable to attend any large events.
By late September it was becoming more and more certain that Gene would be losing his Pro Tour eligibility for 2010.
He did have an outside chance, however.
On October 10-11, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia there was going to be a large open tournament, with the top 16 contestants gaining Pro Tour eligibility for the first event of the 2010 season. There would also be a Pro Tour Qualifying tournament, with the winner getting eligibility, at the event site on the 11th.
Since Gene holds the Pro Tour qualifiers in his city, he’s not allowed to play in them. This means in order to qualify he needs to fly to other cities to participate in their events.
With little options ahead of him, Gene decided that this weekend was his best chance to qualify.
October 10th couldn’t have come any faster for Gene. However, it also couldn’t have ended any worse. Starting 3-0, Gene only needed to go 4-2 in his next six rounds to make the second day of the event. That wasn’t in the cards.
Gene now only had one more shot at getting back on the Pro Tour, The Pro Tour Qualifier.
Sunday morning Gene arrived at the Melbourne Park Convention Center early. The place was packed with players from all over. The sea of tables held one of the most diverse groups of people he had seen. Japanese players trading cards with Americans, native Australians mixing it up with a group of Germans, and even a few Kiwis (New Zealanders) had made it to the event.
As the tournament began an announcement came from the tournament organizer that there were 155 contestants and there would be eight rounds followed by a top eight playoff.
Walking to the first round Gene remembered the words he had heard in rehab. “You’re not going to be as good at things are you are used to,” and he almost let them get to him.
“Out of all the people here there has to be someone who can beat a guy with brain damage,” he couldn’t help thinking. Gene quickly erased these thoughts; remembering he had been to much bigger tournaments than this.
He drew a deep breath. “I’m going to try my best and win this,” he said to himself.
Eight rounds later, Gene found himself undefeated and playing for the qualifying spot.
By now all of Gene’s confidence is back. He hasn’t lost a round yet and he doesn’t see who possibly can beat him.
The top 8 playoff, three rounds (if you keep winning) of best two out of three games, would prove to be harder for Gene- especially when he lost his first game of the quarter finals.
Gene would rally in two straight games, drawing on himself to player better and getting more consistency out of his deck.
The semis were a breeze; his dreams were now close in reach.
There would be no climactic final match in this tournament, as Gene didn’t want to give his opponent any chance of taking his job, dream, and his life away from him.
After a close first game, which Gene won, he commanded the rest of the match.
His emotions were hard to contain as he ran over, hugging friends and getting high fives.
It took an amateur tournament to show the Pro how much this game meant to him. He was back on the Pro Tour and for him, there was no looking back.

***

Gene gathers himself and begins walking into the hall to look for friends.
No longer is he worried about rehab, getting money, or getting back on the Pro Tour, he’s done all that.
Now Gene looks to the future. To earn the most career Pro points in New Zealand history and to give Pro Tour: San Diego all he’s got.
With what he’s been through, it’s hard to believe he won’t do just that.