well lets hope for a byrd style recovery for him. at the very least I hope everett get out of this with only partial paralyzation. at least that way he could still have a life that he could enjoy. This begs my questiong if i were in a life threatening situation, where if i survived i would be paralyzed, I dont know that i would want to survive. may God bless Kevin Everett.
I was hoping to learn more during HF of the Bengals/Ravens game. Chris Berman said a five second thing at the end after mentioning first, which annoyed me. It should have been the lead in story, even if I wasn't going to learn anything new - which I didn't. It annoyed me to sit through 11 minutes of cr*p and highlights I found myself caring less and less about in juxtaposition. I kept thinking about it at work today. It's very disturbing and upsetting.
This is tragic tragic news. This sad news puts everything into perspective about winning and losing in the NFL. My thoughts and prayers are with Kevin Everrit and his family.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7058900 This would truly be remarkable, and definitely made me feel a little bit better...even gave me goosebumps.
Report: Doctor says Everett has voluntary movement of arms, legs ESPN.com news services Kevin Everett might walk again after all. The doctor who performed the spinal surgery on Everett told Buffalo TV station WIVB on Tuesday that Everett has voluntary movement of his arms and legs and as a result he is optimistic that Everett will walk again. Dr. Andrew Cappuccino told WIVB that Everett's sedation levels were lowered on Tuesday, allowing him to respond to verbal commands. WIVB also reported that Everett's latest MRI shows only a small amount of swelling on his spinal cord. On Monday, Cappuccino said that Everett sustained a "catastrophic" and life-threatening spinal-cord injury and was unlikely to walk again. "A best-case scenario is full recovery, but not likely," Cappuccino said Monday. "I believe there will be some permanent neurologic deficit." Everett was hurt Sunday after he ducked his head while tackling the Denver Broncos' Domenik Hixon during the second-half kickoff. Everett dropped face-first to the ground after his helmet hit Hixon high on the left shoulder and side of the helmet. On Monday, Cappuccino noted the 25-year-old reserve tight end did have touch sensation throughout his body and also showed signs of movement. But he cautioned that Everett's injury was life-threatening because he was still susceptible to blood clots, infection and breathing failure. Everett is in the intensive care unit of Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, where he is under sedation and breathing through a respirator as doctors wait for the swelling to lessen. Cappuccino repaired a break between the third and fourth vertebrae and also alleviated the pressure on the spinal cord. In reconstructing his spine, doctors made a bone graft and inserted a plate, held in by four screws, and also inserted two small rods, held in place by another four screws. Doctors, however, weren't able to repair all the damage. Bills punter Brian Moorman immediately feared the worst when Everett showed no signs of movement as he was placed on a backboard and, with his head and body immobilized, carefully loaded into an ambulance. "It brought tears to my eyes," Moorman said after practice. He said the sight of Everett's motionless body brought back memories of Mike Utley, the former Detroit Lions guard, who was paralyzed below the chest after injuring his neck in a collision during a 1991 game. Utley, Moorman recalled, at least was able to give what's become a famous "thumbs up" sign as he was taken off the field. Everett didn't. "That's what I was waiting for, and that's what everybody else was waiting for," Moorman said. "And to have to walk back to the sideline and not see that made for a tough time." Utley, who lives in Washington state, was saddened to see replays of Everett's collision. "I'm sorry this young man got hurt," Utley said. "It wasn't a cheap shot. It was a great form tackle and that's it." Cappuccino received permission to operate from Everett's mother, Patricia Dugas, who spoke by phone from her home in Houston. She and other family members arrived in Buffalo on Monday. Everett was born in Port Arthur, Texas, and played high school football there. Buffalo's 2005 third-round draft pick out of Miami, Everett missed his rookie season because of a knee injury. He spent most of last year playing special teams. He was hoping to make an impact as a receiver. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Great to hear that he is doing better. As much as we love big hits, you like to see the guys bounce up and walk away from them to. Hopefully he continues in his recovery.
It was a saline solution that lowered to body temperature to approximately 92?F, which acted not to relieve the inflammation, but to prevent it, much like an ice pack on a sprain. As I understand it, this was the first time such a technique was used on an athlete within minutes of the injury, and it came out of research efforts sponsored by Nick Buoniconti (sp?) after his son's injury. Amazing stuff.
Very amazing stuff. And this could turn into the feel good story of 2007....It may already have started
technology is amazing. It bothers me that one day the doctor say he has virtually no chance of recovering and the next day he could possibly walk again, but none the less it is GREAT news to hear that he can hopefully recover and live a somewhat normal life. God Bless Kevin and his family
Doctors cautiously optimistic as Everett awake and aware AFP September 12, 2007 BUFFALO, United States (AFP) - Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett is awake and breathing on his own four days after suffering a "catastrophic" spinal injury in a National Football League game. At a news conference on Wednesday, doctor Kevin J. Gibbons, who was part of the team that performed emergency surgery on Everett on Sunday, said the medical team was "very pleased" with the progress the 25-year-old has made so far. Asked if he believed Everett would walk again, Gibbons was optimistic. ADVERTISEMENT "I would not bet against it, but he has a long way to go," he said. "He understands what happened to him, he realizes in some part what lies ahead." Everett collided with Denver Broncos' returner Domenik Hixon on the second-half kickoff. He lay motionless on the field and play was halted for about 15 minutes as medical personnel attended him and removed him to an ambulance. The same night, Everett underwent about four hours of surgery during which doctor Andrew Cappuccino repaired a break between the third and fourth vertebrae and also alleviated the pressure on the spinal cord. To reconfigure Everett's spine, doctors also made a bone graft and inserted a cage and a plate, held in by four screws, and inserted two small rods that are held in place by another four screws. They also lowered Everett's body temperature, which may have inhibited further injury to the spinal cord. He was also deeply sedated. While Cappuccino said on Monday that Everett's chances of walking again were "very slim," subsequent medical tests and the players' ability to voluntarily move his legs had caused doctors to revise their opinions. "On Tuesday morning we lifted the sedation briefly and were able to examine him," Gibbons said. "He demonstrated a clear improvement in the motor function in his legs. "He had the ability to wiggle his toes, there was a slight movement at the ankles, and most important, with the knee elevated, he was able to kick out his lower leg against gravity. We were very pleased. In his upper extremities there was a hint of ability to flex the arm at the biceps - and I do mean slight. "This morning he continues to demonstrate improvement in his legs to the point where he can bend his hip to bring his knee up slightly and straighten out the knee," Gibbons added. "He demonstrated reasonable and continued movement at the ankles and the ability to wiggle his toes. He has improved triceps motion. The biceps function seems to fluctuate. There is no movement or function at all in his hands." He said the fact Everett could breathe without the ventilator was "good news - a major achievement." Despite the cause for optimism, doctors continued to caution that Everett faced a lengthy and difficult recovery, and is still a danger of complications including potentially dangerous blood clots. "We still have a long way to go," Cappuccino said. "The prognosis is still variable. I am still an optimist, and I am cautiously slightly more optimistic."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3016794 Everett has support from Utley, Byrd, Burroughs and others An ill-fated tackle on Sunday plunged Kevin Everett into a hellish week of loss. Instead of commanding his finely chiseled body, he could do nothing with it -- until he finally moved his arms and legs late Tuesday afternoon. Instead of exhorting his Buffalo Bills teammates in the late stages of their game against the Denver Broncos, he struggled to breathe on a ventilator. Instead of shooting for a breakthrough third year in the NFL, his football career almost surely ended. Yet amid all that loss, Everett gained one thing, even if only he knows and appreciates it later: He joined a small fraternity of NFL players who have also suffered severe spinal-cord injuries and now embrace him as a brother. Dennis Byrd, the former New York Jets lineman who was temporarily paralyzed in 1992, reached out to Everett's family as soon as he could. The message he delivered, he told ESPN.com on Wednesday, is this: "If there's anything I can do in terms of encouragement, I'd be honored and thrilled to help him in any way I can." Mike Utley, who has made recovery from spinal-cord injuries his life's work since becoming paralyzed as a Detroit Lion in 1991, stands ready to give Everett a chalk talk on the X's and O's of his new physical needs: how to rebuild atrophied muscles, how to watch out for blood clots, and more. "Anything he wants, I'll jump," says Utley, who, though a quadriplegic, means it -- literally. Among Utley's many vigorous activities these days is skydiving. Everett's future is more hopeful, and his benefits as a catastrophically injured player are more substantial, than Byrd and Utley experienced after their injuries. If he remains totally and permanently incapacitated from this injury, Everett stands to collect $224,000 per year, for life, in disability benefits from the NFL. Everett is due other near-term payments, too. He will be paid his 2007 salary of $385,000. He will receive a $230,000 "injury protection" payment in 2008. (Under the NFL's labor contract, a player who retires due to injury gets an extra year's pay, based on a percentage of his contract.) Everett will also get a $37,500 severance payment, spread over three years. And he also almost surely qualifies for workers' compensation insurance benefits, which is even more important. NFL players' health insurance extends for only five years after their retirement. In the state of New York, workers' comp means lifetime medical coverage, according to Bert Villarini, the attorney who represents the NFL Players Association on such matters in Buffalo.
