Doing The Right Thing
Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bill tight end who was severely injured in the season opener on September 9th has been transferred to a hospital in Houston. Doctors expect him to be walking in a few days. The transfer was done to bring him closer to his family.
Everett left Buffalo earlier Friday in a private plane. He was joined by his mother, Patricia Dugas, and taken to the hospital's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research. Dugas, wearing a white Bills jersey, declined to talk with reporters.
Everett spent two weeks at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital after he was hurt making a tackle in the Bills' season opener against Denver on Sept. 9.
Initially fearing he would never walk again, doctors have since significantly upgraded their prognosis and plan to have Everett try to stand on his own in the next few days.
Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the neurological surgery department at the University of Miami school of medicine, said doctors are confident Everett could be walking within weeks if not sooner.
"They're very confident he'll be walking very soon … in the next days or weeks, not months," Green told The Associated Press on Thursday shortly after discussing Everett's condition with Bills orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Cappuccino. "I think the future for him is very bright."
The Buffalo Bills front office are well aware of the fact that Everett will never play football again. But in a classy (and frankly smart) move, they put Everett on the injured reserve list. That qualifies him as a three-year veteran and vests him in the lifetime benefits package from the player's union.
By Maggie, Friday, 21 September , 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Good on the Bills!
And many hopes and prayers for Everett’s recovery and health.