Devon Walker's spine stabilized

Updated: September 9, 2012, 11:54 PM ET
Associated Press

LeGrand: 'Everything Unknown Is So Scary'

Walker Devon Walker's neck fracture Saturday was reminiscent of a 2010 injury to Eric LeGrand in which the Rutgers defensive tackle was initially paralyzed from the neck down, a prognosis that came the Sunday after his own spinal fracture.

But Walker's doctors say the extent of his injury remains uncertain and could remain so until midweek.

"Right now, he is in shock," LeGrand told USA Today in a telephone interview. "He has no idea what is going to happen to his body or how his life is going to change. Basically everything that is unknown is so scary. It's one of the scariest things in life because you have no idea where your life is about to take you."

Indeed, the swelling can impair neurological function and make it difficult to tell immediately how much is truly lost and how much may return as a patient stabilizes and the swelling decreases.

Generally speaking, and with no specific knowledge of Walker's exact medical situation, there is a significant amount of swelling following any serious injury to the spine.

On Saturday, when reports came out that he had significant swelling and was being treated for it, they were most likely administering high doses of steroids (common after such injuries) to try to decrease swelling before proceeding to surgery -- which will be done to stabilize the fracture.

LeGrand, who is now able to stand using an upright metal structure, said he will reach out to Walker and his teammates as soon as possible.

"A few guys on my team did not want to play football anymore, they just wanted to give it up," LeGrand told USA Today. "It is important to know, don't go back out there scared because of what happened. Don't let it change the way you play the game."

There are so many things that are touch-and-go in the early phases following a high level cervical spine injury that it is hard to be definitive about a prognosis in any form.

Walker's doctors are being judicious in this regard because they are waiting for the injury to "declare itself" as opposed to speculating.

Over the next few days his doctors will monitor Walker medically and also watch to see what type of return he starts to get as far as motor, sensation, etc.

But LeGrand is proof there is hope.

"That is why I believed I healed so fast," he said, "because everyone was so positive."

-- ESPN.com senior writer Stephania Bell

TULSA, Okla. -- Tulane football player Devon Walker's fractured spine was stabilized in a three-hour surgery Sunday, though it's too soon to tell whether he will be paralyzed from the injury he suffered while making a tackle, the team's doctor said.

Dr. Greg Stewart, Tulane University's director of sports medicine, said Walker was in stable condition and was expected to stay in the intensive care until of St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa for the next few days.

"These kind of injuries take 24, 48, sometimes 72 hours to fully declare themselves," Stewart said before the surgery. "We don't know what the long-term implications and outcomes are going to be."

Stewart said he was with Walker on the field, in the ambulance and at the hospital on Saturday. He said Walker was put into a cervical collar and couldn't see much of what was happening, so Stewart explained what was going on. Walker was talking with doctors as he was being treated, Stewart said.

Walker's parents had traveled to Oklahoma to be with their son, and they were "doing as well as can be expected," Stewart said.

"They're like the rest of us -- hopeful and prayerful."

Stewart was back in New Orleans on Sunday, as were Walker's teammates. He said Tulane's athletic director and the football team's trainer remained in Oklahoma with Walker.

Walker's injury occurred on the final play of the first half, hours after Tulane opened the Conference USA portion of its schedule against Tulsa. Tulsa was leading 35-3 and facing a fourth-and-2 with the ball at the 33-yard line on Saturday when the Golden Hurricane called timeout. Tulane then called timeout.

When play resumed, Tulsa quarterback Cody Green tossed a short pass to Willie Carter, who caught it at about the 28, and turned upfield. He was tackled around the 17-yard line, with defensive tackle Julius Warmsley and Walker sandwiching him and apparently smashing their helmets together.

Medical personnel from both teams tended to Walker as he lay on the field. FOX Sports reported a hush went over the crowd at H.A. Chapman Stadium as Walker was attended to, and that several coaches were in tears as he was taken away in an ambulance. Spectators bowed their heads as someone on the field led the stadium in prayer.

Dr. Buddy Savoie said during a postgame news conference that Walker never completely lost consciousness and was breathing on his own.

"He was stable when we transported him," Savoie said. "I do not think, based on the information we have, his life was ever in danger."

Walker is a senior majoring in cell and molecular biology. His brother, Raynard, told The Associated Press on Saturday that their mother was watching the game on television when her son was injured.

Tulane coach Curtis Johnson said after the 45-10 loss that while Walker was on the field, Johnson told Walker that he was praying for him and that help was on the way.

He said the mood among players was somber and called the day his most difficult ever.

"It was tremendous that they finished the game, as I thought about just saying 'Hey look, let's not do anything else. Let's just get on the road and go.'"


Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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