---
Neurosurgeon: Bills' Kevin Everett moved arms
and legs, which means he could walk again

By JOHN WAWROW, AP Sports Writer

September 12, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ywbjal
---

Excerpts:

Kevin Everett voluntarily moved his arms and
legs on Tuesday when partially awakened,
prompting a neurosurgeon to say the Buffalo
Bills' tight end would walk again -- contrary
to the grim prognosis given a day before.

"Based on our experience, the fact that he's
moving so well, so early after such a catastro-
phic injury means he will walk again," said
Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the department
of neurological surgery at the University of
Miami school of medicine.

"It's totally spectacular, totally unexpected,"
Green told The Associated Press by telephone
from Miami.

Green said he's been consulting with doctors
in Buffalo since Everett sustained a life-threat-
ening spinal cord injury Sunday after ducking
his head while tackling the Denver Broncos'
Domenik Hixon during the second-half kickoff
of the Bills' season opener.

Everett dropped face-first to the ground after
his helmet hit Hixon high on the left shoulder
and side of the helmet.

Everett remains in intensive care at Buffalo's
Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital and will be
slowly taken off sedation and have his body
temperature warmed over the next day, Green
said. Doctors will then begin taking the player
off life support systems -- including a respir-
ator -- currently controlling his body functions.

"It's feasible, but it's not 100 percent predicta-
ble at this time ... he could lead a normal life,"
Green said.

On Monday, Bills orthopedic surgeon, Dr. An-
drew Cappuccino, said Everett likely wouldn't
walk again.

"A best-case scenario is full recovery, but not
likely," said Cappuccino, who operated on the
reserve tight end. "I believe there will be some
permanent neurologic deficit."

....

"I don't know if I would call it a miracle. I would
call it a spectacular example of what people can
do," Green said. "To me, it's like putting the first
man on the moon or splitting the atom. We've shown
that if the right treatment is given to people who
have a catastrophic injury that they could walk
away from it."

....

Al Celaya, who coached Everett at Thomas Jefferson
High in Port Arthur, Texas, was confident his former
player would battle through.
....

Green said the key was the quick action taken by
Cappuccino to run an ice-cold saline solution through
Everett's system that put the player in a hypothermic
state. Doctors at the Miami Project have demonstrated
in their laboratories that such action significantly de-
creases the damage to the spinal cord due to swelling
and movement.

"We've been doing a protocol on humans and having
similar experiences for many months now," Green
said. "But this is the first time I'm aware of that the
doctor was with the patient when he was injured and
the hypothermia was started within minutes of the
injury. We know the earlier it's started, the better."

Cappuccino said Monday that the 25-year-old did
have touch sensation throughout his body, showed
signs of voluntary movement and was able to breathe
on his own before being sedated. But he cautioned
that Everett's injury remained life-threatening be-
cause he was still susceptible to blood clots, infec-
tion and breathing failure.

....

--- end excerpts ---

Archived from group: alt>sports>football>pro