AAP News Vol. 14 No. 9 September 1998, p. 12
© 1998 American Academy of Pediatrics
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Snap decisions could harm young athletes with spinal injury

Laura J. Rongé

It was early in the fourth quarter, the Detroit Lions vs. the New York Jets at the Silverdome last December, when Lions linebacker Reggie Brown crashed headfirst into Jets guard Lamont Burns. Brown was down and unconscious — not breathing, turning blue — when swift action by team physician Terry Lock, M.D., and athletic trainer Kent Falb saved Brown's life.

The impact had displaced two vertebrae in Brown's neck, bruising his spinal cord. "Wrong moves could have been fatal," Lions' team orthopedist David Collon, M.D., commented.

After fusion surgery and weeks of intensive rehabilitation, Brown was wheeled into a press conference. Tension gave way to tears of joy when he rose and walked the short distance to the podium. Reggie Brown will never play football again, but he is one of the lucky ones.