Healthwatch: Ex-Cowboys player Springs hospitalized in a coma
Chris
By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
October 16, 2007
DALLAS (AP) -- Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs has been
hospitalized in a coma, more than seven months after receiving a kidney
donated by ex-teammate Everson Walls.
The Washington Redskins said Tuesday that cornerback Shawn Springs,
son of the 50-year-old Springs, has left the team to be with his father.
"(Shawn) has flown down there -- it's a very tough time for them
because I think it's very, very serious," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused Ron Springs, who has diabetes,
to lapse into a coma or when he was hospitalized. Calls to the family
weren't returned.
Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT first reported Springs'
condition.
In February, Walls donated his kidney to the ailing Springs, who had
suffered from diabetes for 16 years and had been on the national transplant
waiting list since 2004. It was the first transplant between two former U.S.
professional athletes.
The disease confined Springs to a wheelchair and led to the amputation
of his right foot and the big and middle toes on his left foot.
In an August interview with The Associated Press, Springs said he
could feel his health improving each day since the transplant.
"I'm feeling very good," he said at the time. "Every day I get a
little bit better."
Springs played eight seasons in the NFL, six with the Cowboys and two
in Tampa Bay, before retiring after the 1986 season. He was drafted in the
fifth round by the Cowboys out of Ohio State.
In the four seasons Springs and Walls played together in Dallas, the
two forged a strong friendship. Springs is the godfather of Walls' oldest
daughter, and Walls received the same honor for Springs' youngest.
This summer, Ron and Shawn Springs visited several cities in a
campaign to increase awareness of diabetes.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-ronsprings-hospitalized&prov=ap&type=lgns
wazzzy
By Sports Network
Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs, hospitalized in a
coma, reportedly has "no hope he will survive."
The Dallas Morning News reports doctors made that statement to the
family of Springs, who has been unconscious since soon after he
entered Dallas Medical City Hospital last week. The paper reports
friends believed the 50-year-old Springs went to the hospital to have
a cyst removed from one of his arms.
The Cowboys Web site indicates the cyst was removed from his elbow,
and a former teammate said Springs has been on a respirator since the
surgery, and no brain activity has been detected.
Springs started suffering from diabetes since the early 1990s and that
led to his right foot being amputated. Three years ago he was put on a
national transplant list for a kidney, and former teammate Everson
Walls agreed to donate one of his kidneys to Springs. The transplant
took place this past March.
Springs was drafted by the Cowboys in 1979. He played eight seasons in
the NFL, six with the Cowboys and two with Tampa Bay. He is the father
of current Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs.
FragileWarrior
> The Cowboys Web site indicates the cyst was removed from his elbow,
> and a former teammate said Springs has been on a respirator since the
> surgery, and no brain activity has been detected.
WTF? What am I missing here??
Charlene
> Bleak outlook for Springs
>
> By Sports Network
> Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ron Springs, hospitalized in a
> coma, reportedly has "no hope he will survive."
How could HE have hope while in a coma with (as it says below) no
brain activity?
> The Cowboys Web site indicates the cyst was removed from his elbow,
> and a former teammate said Springs has been on a respirator since the
> surgery, and no brain activity has been detected.
I wonder if he had a stroke or a heart attack, although it could have
been a reaction to the anaesthetic.
wd43