Ready for his close up

Humberto Gurmilán has gone from a wheelchair to the sports anchor chair. And the Southwestern alum who cannot walk is not finished climbing ladders.

He was not always so optimistic.

"I am a guy in a wheelchair. Who's going to want to hire me?" he admitted thinking after completing his communication degree from San Diego State. He said he was itchy because he had been invited to no interviews from television or radio stations he applied at.

"The funny thing is that it all started with an internship," he said a year after landing his position as sports anchor/producer for Tijuana-San Diego's Telemundo 33.

After graduating at San Diego State University, Gurmilán decided to complete his Master's Degree and work as an intern.

"I was disillusioned because I got no responses," he said. "Things just happen. It's incredible how quickly I got into this station. I was able to get there because of all the hard work that I put in throughout college."

Gurmilán, 26, was born in Chula Vista and was raised in Tijuana. He was very active and loved sports. He played football, soccer and had a passion for baseball. Then he took up surfing.

"Before turning 16 I got hurt at the beach, surfing one day," he recalled. "I dove into shallow water and hit bottom. I fractured my neck and instantly became paralyzed."

Gurmilán injured himself at Las Playas, a beach just south of the Mexican border.

He was transferred to Mercy Hospital in San Diego due to the serious of his injuries and because he was an American citizen. While spending six months of intensive rehabilitation, he learned a lot of his English then returned to school.

Gurmilán is quadriplegic. He suffers paralysis in all four limbs, but has good movement in his arms. He cannot close or open his hands. This injury didn't stop him to from pursuing a career in sports.

"It made me appreciate things a lot more than I used to. It changed my whole perspective. In a way, it gave me a big reason for living. It totally changed my life and my family's life for the better. A lot of families break apart when something dramatic happens to somebody like this. This was my family's deal, not just my problem."

His family relocated to Chula Vista to be close to him and it gave them the opportunity for a better living. In 1997 he graduated from Montgomery High. Two and a half years later he received his Associates Degree in Journalism. He did a lot of writing for the Southwestern Sun, where he won many awards. He also won national tournaments on the SWC speech team.

"I knew how to write. I really wanted to finish college. I knew I was ready to be in the work force. But I had to prepare myself thoroughly."

Gurmilán decided to switch over to a communication major since he had been trained in radio and voice. In 2003 he graduated from SDSU and his first plan was to find work. His plans changed when Univision offered him an internship.

"As soon as I got there in the news room, I saw the craziness of the 20 minutes before a live show. I said to myself, 'I am going to stay.' It became like a full-time job putting up to seven hours daily because I enjoyed being there."

Gurmilán took advantage of his internship. He learned how to write news and edit video. One day the sports anchor from Telemundo didn't show up for work. Univision, owned by Telemundo in the San Diego market, runs its station next door. The Telemundo producer contacted him for help. Gurmilán wrote, edited and presented the script before deadline. When he was done the producer asked him if he would like to do the voice over on the sports highlights, Gurmilán responded, "Of course. This is the moment I have been waiting for."

His boss told him he had a great voice and did a really good job, but said nothing else. A couple of weeks later, the Telemundo sports anchor started to miss work. Turns out he was in Los Angeles interviews in go. The producers had nobody to cover sports so they contacted Gurmilán to be the "fill-in guy" and intern.

"We don't want you to think that this is your job because we are going to search for an anchor and for someone to do sports," his boss told him.

But this didn't distract Gurmilán. His time came, he applied, did his on-air camera test and was hired on March 1, 2004.

Gurmilán has always been active. He wants to climb up the ladder and see where it takes him. He still wants to write, be a radio announcer and travel. Gurmilán is excited that Telemundo is covering Sunday Padre games.

Gurmilán said he is proud to be a role model for wheelchair bound people, but admits that he really does not have a readymade inspirational talk.

"I cannot explain it to people that ask me 'How do you do it? How did you accomplish so much?'?" Gurmilán said. "There is something inside that hates to settle for anything less than what I can accomplish. It's just a drive I cannot explain."

Gurmilán wants to give back to the community that has helped him so much.

"I plan to start a foundation to help people."

Right now he is mentoring a Montgomery High School student.

"I received a lot, almost too much. It is not going to cost me anything for my time and help."

Humberto Gurmilán can be seen weekly at 6 p.m. on Telemundo XHAS TV 33. The program airs from Oceanside to Ensenada. Telemundo 33 is broadcasted in Spanish and is the only local network to regularly both sides of the border.