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In West Springfield, Massachusetts, at the age of 10, Daggett began his future career in gymnastics by enrolling in the Parks and Recreation program. Advancing quickly, Daggett was invited by the local high school coach to train with his team. While he was a college student at UCLA, he competed in NCAA Division I gymnastics. He graduated from UCLA in 1986 with a degree in psychology.
Daggett is married to Deanne (née Lazer), formerly a collegiate-level gymnast at Eastern Michigan University and now an M.D. practicing anesthesiology. Their children are Peter and Carlie Daggett. Tim named his son Peter after teammate Peter Vidmar. Peter’s son Tim is named after Tim Daggett. They all currently live in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts.Daggett’s ankles had historically been weak. In 1980, Daggett dislocated one ankle shortly after having the other rebuilt. For months in 1986, he was forced to recover from his two ankles again being rebuilt. Immediately following the recovery during training, his horizontal bar release ended with him landing on his neck.
The result was a ruptured spinal disc, and left arm nerves were also damaged. Daggett, against doctor recommendations, ignored the proposed surgery, which would have ended his career, and caught mononucleosis following his recovery from the near-fatal landing. In Rotterdam, the 1987 world championships proved career-shattering for Daggett. On the vault, he snapped his tibia and fibula and severed one of his arteries following the impact from a pike Cuervo. He underwent surgeries adding and removing supportive braces and pins to his left leg. He was under sedation from morphine in hospitals for three months.
