"Tucson High School basketball player Joe Kay was seriously injured Friday night when he was trampled on the court by a large group of celebrating fans following a victory. "
"Kay, who ignited the crowd in the closing minutes when he scored on a two-handed slam dunk, was surrounded by fans after the buzzer, Lewis said.
Kay somehow fell into the large crowd and was trampled by the swarming fans, Lewis said. He has reviewed the tape but said footage does not indicate if Kay fell on his head or was stomped on the head.
Kay somehow suffered a torn carotid artery in his neck and has a crack in the back of his jaw, Lewis said."
"The carotid artery tear is what caused the stroke," said Lewis, who visited Kay in the hospital throughout the weekend. "His right arm and right leg definitely are not moving at this point."
"At the end of the game they rushed him. The whole student section, like 200 kids, came running out on the court," said teammate Marsharne Flannigan, who visited Kay on Sunday.
House and Lewis said Kay has a 4.0 grade point average. He is a starter on Tucson's basketball and volleyball teams.
"He's a 4.0 student, he got a volleyball scholarship to play for Stanford, and he had the game of his life," House said. "All those things are fortified in my mind right now, and you don't know what the future is. That's what is tearing me up right now."
Rabe said in addition to being a straight-A student, her son is a National Merit finalist and an accomplished saxophone player.
This is from a different article.
"Stanford officials have assured Kay's parents that his admission will remain open for a few years and his scholarship honored regardless of his ability to play."
Colleges that do that are cool.
Posts: 171 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Stroke-induced paralysis is (slightly) more treatable than spinal injury-induced paralysis. Let's hope and pray that he benefits from that.
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"The surgeons told us the injury was large, permanent and devastating," said Rabe, a law professor at the University of Arizona. "We are hopeful Joe will walk and talk again. We know that it is a long road, and we think we have reason to believe he will walk and talk again."
I will say, though, that we are learning more about recovery from stroke and traumatic brain injury every day. What one group of doctors says may not be the final word. This kid has a lot going for him that may make it possible for a better-than-expected recovery.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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There is a guy called Ben who graduated from my law school last year.
He played rugby in high school: when he was in year 11, a scrum collapsed on him and his neck was broken. He was rendered quadriplegic.
He finished year 12, and qualified for medicine: he was allowed into the course, despite his disabilty. My Mum was one of his teachers. He lasted a year and then quit: not because he wasn't doing well (he was topping his class) but because he realised what his teachers had known all along: his physical limitations meant he could never be a hands-on doctor. He could never give anyone a physical. He couldn't take blood pressure. He couldn't give CPR.
(He didn't want to be a medical researcher).
So he began a law degree. When I began my law degree, he was in 4th year, and doing very well. The next year he was elected president of the Blackstone Society (Law School student society), and was a member of the Jessup moot team (very prestigous). The team he was part of won the Australian competition and was runner up in the worldwide competition (held in Washington).
He was awarded the Rhodes scholarship in 2003, was Western Australia's Young Australian of the Year, and was recently named one of the 25 most influential West Australians (all up).
He is also an incredibly lovely guy.
Why do I say this? Well, his accident was horrendous, just as happened in the article. But he managed to get on with his life and has done amazingly well (by anyone's standards!).
I guess it's just a there can be a good future story. And to share Ben's experience, because I think he is pretty incredible.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Wow...it's weird finding out about Tucson news on hatrack. *considers watching the news more often*
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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It's not the injury that I find so disturbing. Accidents happen and life goes on. What bothers me about this is that the fans were uncontrollable and nearly killed a player on their own team! People seem have lost all control of themselves and the ability to see possible consequences of their actions. It was bad enough when we started hearing about fans dying in Europe at soccer matches because of the whole mob mentality. Around the same time, it became accepted that after a big win (Super Bowl, World Series, National Championship) the home town would go nuts (win or lose) and upend cars, set things on fire, and wreak havoc in general. Now it's in the high schools? Not even a championship or last game of the season? Just a regular game? What is wrong with people?
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