The teenage driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. His 2001 Ford Explorer slammed into a telephone pole. The impact shattered the ribs on the left side of his body and punctured his lung. His left leg was severely injured, snapped like a toothpick above the knee, torn completely from the body below.

It was June 1, 2003. You would have thought Andrew Hauser's big-league dreams had died that day, but it turned out they were just beginning.

Hauser isn't the only young man at the Phillies minor-league camp trying to get to the big leagues, but he's the only one trying to do it on a titanium leg.

A happy, perpetually smiling 23-year-old, Hauser is an intern on the Phillies' athletic training and strength and conditioning staff. He will earn his degree in athletic training from the University of Kansas in May and spend the coming season working with the single-A Clearwater Threshers.

"I love what I do," Hauser said one recent day, after overseeing wind sprints. "I love being on the field. Always have."

Hauser grew up near Kansas City. He idolized Hall of Famer George Brett, and, naturally, hoped to one day play for his hometown Royals.

A strapping 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, Hauser was a catcher-first baseman at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, Kan. He had hoped to play ball in college - until the accident happened.

His high school team had been eliminated from the state tournament earlier that day. He had hung out at a friend's house until after midnight. He was just a half-mile from home when he nodded off for the split second that forever changed his life.

"I wasn't drinking," said Hauser, who believes it is important to point that out. "It was a long day and I was just tired."

The accident happened 100 yards from a fire station and emergency medical workers were able to get to him quickly.

He suffered a compound fracture of his femur, the body's largest bone. The mangled door from the SUV ripped into his shin and the leg was severed four inches below his knee.

There would be no college baseball.

"I came to terms with that pretty quickly," Hauser said. "I was just happy to be alive."

Once he recovered from his injuries, he was fitted with a prosthesis. He eventually enrolled at Kansas as a history major.

Hauser was lucky his knee survived the accident. It made walking much easier. He could work out, even run.

During his second year at Kansas, however, he decided he wanted to do a little more.

"I wanted to be athletic again," he said. "I wanted to be quicker."

He began working with an athletic trainer named Carrie Barry. He got the athleticism he was looking for and found his professional calling. Goodbye history major, hello athletic training.

"Working with her really lit a fire under me," he said. "I had no idea what I wanted to do. It set me down this path and I love it. I always wanted to get to the big leagues somehow and this is my best way."

At Kansas, Hauser was a student assistant athletic trainer on the football staff. He was on the sidelines for the team's Orange Bowl win in January. Last summer, he interned with the Arizona Diamondbacks' triple-A club, and spent a day in the majors.

In the Phillies' minor-league camp, Hauser assists with injury treatment and prevention, as well as players' conditioning programs. He walks with a slight limp, but otherwise it would be difficult to tell he has a prosthetic lower left leg and foot. Phillies athletic trainers are not allowed to wear shorts, but there are times when Hauser wishes he could.

"If I ever heard anyone complaining about running or something, I could look down at my leg and say, 'Come on, suck it up,' " he said with a laugh.

Hauser still runs and lifts weights. His skills as a former catcher come in handy when working with pitchers who are rehabbing injuries.

"I think having played helps me relate to the players," he said. "I appreciate what they do."

And they appreciate him.

"Guys have seen me run and said, 'I had no idea,' " Hauser said. "That's good because I don't want a pity party."

He won't get one in baseball. No one does. This sport is not for the thin of skin, and that's OK with Hauser.

"I have the best of all worlds," he said. "I get to be on the field, have all the camaraderie and help people get better."

He'll do all this in the Florida State League this season. The dream to make the majors is still very much alive.

"I plan on getting there," Andrew Hauser said.