Long Beach Water Polo Athlete Leaves Miller Hospital

Standout Long Beach water polo athlete Alessandro “Sandro” Apuzzo took his first steps out of the Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital with friends, family and hospital staff cheering him on outside the hospital — just in time for Thanksgiving. The 15-year-old Wilson High School student was inside the water at Peninsula Beach with friends on the Fourth of July and struck his head on the sandbank while trying to dive. He was rushed to the hospital with a spinal cord injury and multiple burst fractures.