"Minor Miracle": Player Moves Arms, Legs

Experimental Treatment Decreased Everett's Body Temperature, Limited Damage To His Spine

(CBS/AP)  Kevin Everett voluntarily moved his arms and legs on Tuesday when partially awakened, prompting a neurosurgeon to say the Buffalo Bills' tight end would walk again - contrary to the grim prognosis given a day before.

"We may be witnessing a minor miracle, but we are still greatly concerned," Bills orthopedic surgeon Dr. Andrew Cappuccino told CBS affiliate WIVB-TV.

Everett sustained a life-threatening spinal cord injury Sunday after ducking his head while tackling the Denver Broncos' Domenik Hixon during the second-half kickoff of the Bills' season opener.

Everett dropped face-first to the ground after his helmet hit Hixon high on the left shoulder and side of the helmet.

On Monday, Cappuccino had said Everett likely wouldn't walk again.

"A best-case scenario is full recovery, but not likely," Cappuccino, who operated on the reserve tight end, had said. "I believe there will be some permanent neurologic deficit."

But Everett himself sent a message to his mother.

"He told her that he was going to get better and he didn't want her to worry," Cappuccino said.

Everett's mother, Patricia Dugas, spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday.

"That's right. They're surprised themselves," Dugas said. "They don't know Kevin Everett. Oh, man, I always told him when he was a little boy, 'You show them better than you can tell them.' He's going to be fine. I really believe it."

Everett remains in intensive care at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital.

"Based on our experience, the fact that he's moving so well, so early after such a catastrophic injury means he will walk again," said Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the department of neurological surgery at the University of Miami school of medicine.

"It's totally spectacular, totally unexpected," Green told The Associated Press by telephone from Miami.

Soon, doctors will begin taking the player off life support systems - including a respirator - currently controlling his body functions.

"It's feasible, but it's not 100 percent predictable at this time ... he could lead a normal life," Green said.

Bills owner Ralph Wilson said the team has been in contact from the beginning with Green and the Miami Project, the university's neurological center that specializes in spinal cord injuries and paralysis.

"I don't know if I would call it a miracle. I would call it a spectacular example of what people can do," Green said. "To me, it's like putting the first man on the moon or splitting the atom. We've shown that if the right treatment is given to people who have a catastrophic injury that they could walk away from it."

That does not mean a return of his career, though, said Dr. Joseph Maroon, team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a University of Pittsburgh specialist who was consulted on Everett's case.

"If he ever does regain function, no neurosurgeon would ever permit him to play football," Maroon said.

The Bills training staff practices for situations just like this, reports WIVB medical reporter Dr. Peter Ostrow. Dr. John Marzo, the team's medical director, led the drill, and trainer Bud Carpenter immobilized Everett's head.

As soon as they put him in the ambulance, treatment began. He was given steroids as the ambulance went through the stadium tunnel, and two IVs were inserted so he could be given a treatment that would lower his body temperature. Within an hour of the time they reached Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, he had had a CT scan and a MRI scan.

Green said another key was the quick action taken by Cappuccino to run an ice-cold saline solution through Everett's system that put the player in a hypothermic state. Doctors at the Miami Project have demonstrated in their laboratories that such action significantly decreases the damage to the spinal cord due to swelling and movement.

"We've been doing a protocol on humans and having similar experiences for many months now," Green said. "But this is the first time I'm aware of that the doctor was with the patient when he was injured and the hypothermia was started within minutes of the injury. We know the earlier it's started, the better."

Green described the mechanism of the treatment to CBS News Correspondent Jeff Glor "It's the equivalent to crushing your arm or leg. If you don't put an ice pack on it, it's gonna swell and bleed."

Doctors also operated on the football player's neck, removing the injured disk and bone impinging on the spinal cord, and realigned it. Surgeons also fused the vertebrae above and below the fracture, and put in four screws and two small rods. Long-term results from such operations can vary widely.

Cappuccino said doctors made an evaluation six hours after the surgery.

"The covering of the cord, and the cord itself, were completely intact and actually looked good," he said.

The encouraging news might have come as a surprise to many, but not to those who know Everett well.

Al Celaya, who coached Everett at Thomas Jefferson High in Port Arthur, Texas, was confident his former player would battle through.

"When faced with any adversity, Kevin is going to put out the effort, he's going to work hard and he's going to find a way to win," Celaya said. "I think Kevin will be that kind of person, because that's the kind of person he's always been."

Intending to play basketball, Everett was persuaded by Celaya to give football a try. Some nine years later, and after two seasons at the University of Miami, Everett was Buffalo's third-round pick in the 2005 draft.

"He overcame a lot of odds to do that," Celaya said.

Green noted that Everett and owner Wilson have ties to Miami and the Miami Project - Everett played there and Wilson is one of the project's largest donors.

"It's an amazing group of circumstances. It's a home run. It's a touchdown," Green said.

[loulinlee]

Come on Kevin - hang in there - we are all pulling for you! God bless and praying for a complete recovery!!!

[rhonda222-2009]

GREAT NEWS TODAY KEVIN, WAY TO GO!GOD BLESS YOU, I''M PRAYING FOR A FULL RECOVERY, YOUR FAMILY AND YOU ARE IN MY PRAYERS.

[Krazcarl]

Was paralized at 18 form menengitis know what the MAN is going through and Doctors prognosis mean little I walk and work. Time will tell but I''m optamistic and feeling in the extremities is a VERY good sighn.

[rafterman1]

I was at the game and the whole thing was horrific. But the key according to the doctors was the lowering temperature, they lowered it to 91 degrees. It''s only 7 degrees, but it makes a big difference.

[novahickchic-2009]

My Prayer''s go out to Kevin & his Family! And, in my Opinion this IS A MIRICLE of GOD! Get well, and hold tight to Jesus; HE will get you thru this!!