USC tailback dropped weight bar on neck

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-t25-usc-johnsonhurt&prov=ap&type=lgns


LOS ANGELES (AP)—Southern California tailback Stafon Johnson probably wouldn’t have survived his weightlifting accident without his muscular athlete’s neck, which helped maintain his airway when a weight bar crashed down on it, a doctor said Tuesday.

Johnson could communicate non-verbally with his family members and teammates on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after his bench-pressing accident in the Trojans’ weight room. The bar slipped from his right hand and crushed his neck and larynx, which required seven hours of surgery.

Johnson’s fitness helped him survive, said Dr. Gudata Hinika, the trauma medical director at California Hospital Medical Center. The senior’s USC career likely is over, but he’s expected to make a full recovery that could allow him to play pro football.

“Had that been any one of us, meaning me, we would have not survived,” Hinika said. “His neck was so solid, so muscular … and the discipline that one learns from being athletic also really helped him to calm down and just do what he needed to do. He took instruction very well. All this combination and his physical fitness contributed to his outcome.”

Johnson was using a breathing tube and a feeding tube Tuesday, but was listed in stable condition. He unexpectedly woke up and communicated with his parents Tuesday morning after undergoing an emergency tracheotomy and reconstructive surgery on his throat, which was almost completely flattened by the bar.

Coach Pete Carroll was grateful for the team leader’s improved health after spending part of the night with Johnson’s family. Johnson’s mother, Kim Mallory, happened to be on a work assignment at the same downtown Los Angeles hospital where her son was transported Monday.

“He’s not talking, but he was making some sense of some stuff and writing,” Carroll said. “It’s very uplifting for his mom and his family and all the guys who got a chance to go down there. … We’re connected. This is a very tight program. Stafon has been a spiritual leader and a leader on the field for a long time here.”

Carroll dropped by the nearby hospital again a few hours before USC’s late-afternoon practice. In a tweet, Carroll said Johnson was “looking good and his spirits are very high.”

It’s unclear when Johnson will be able to speak again, but news of his recovery was greeted with sighs of relief at USC’s Heritage Hall, where the seventh-ranked Trojans gathered before Tuesday’s practice in preparation for Saturday’s key game at No. 24 California.

“It’s very serious stuff, and if anything, it’s something we can use,” USC offensive lineman Jeff Byers said. “Play every play like it’s your last, because you never know. Stafon had no idea that might his last game. Guys have every reason now to come out and refocus on why you love the game, because you never know when it can be taken from you.”

Johnson’s injury is just the latest drama in USC’s eventful season, both on and off the gridiron.

Cornerback Brian Baucham injured his left foot and knee in a freeway motorcycle accident while driving to campus on Sept. 17, leaving him with serious road burns. Another reserve defensive back, Marshall Jones, is out for the season after cracking a vertebra last weekend against Washington State.

Both injuries occurred after the Trojans lost Shareece Wright, an expected starting cornerback, to academic woes before the season.

Defensive lineman Hebron Fangupo is out for the season after breaking his leg against Washington State, and linebacker Jordan Campbell is on crutches with his severely sprained ankle in a boot.

Ronald Johnson, the Trojans’ No. 2 receiver, is still out after breaking his collarbone during the Trojans’ mock game one week before the season began.

Heard a report that he was benching 275 lbs

I would bet my good leg that he was using a 'suicide' grip on the bar - its got that name for a reason, Doh!

This is one the reasons I advise people to stick with dumbell press if training alone.

He had a spotter working with him.

More updates:
-expected to make a full recovery
-doctors probably won't ask him to try to talk for at least 6 weeks

Holy crap. I have dropped 225 on my chest once or twice, but never on my neck. He is incredibly lucky he is still alive. His spotter should be shot - how did that happen?!

And that is why I have safety bars on my weight bench to eliminate that happening; especially since I do work out alone. I am surprised that this happened even with a spotter.

Cord, lifting with dumbbells scares me more. When working out alone lifting that much weight, if one hand were to slip that would smash your face if you couldn't get out of the way or direct it elsewhere. Nothing like a 110+ lbs coming down on you because one hand gave out.

I hope he has a full recovery.

He was probably being spotted like this:

link

Well, its taken years, but we finally disagree on something re. training

I agree that safety bars/power rack bench makes one man barbell work a viable option, but for those without such equipment, dumbells are a safer bet.
1. The level of control needed to get in position, and the independant nature of them, means that you will never be lifting as much weight as a bar press anyway, whilst still getting full benefit.
2. If you 'fail' on a dumbell press, the chances are it will be at the 'sticking point' meaning the 'bell has little distance to travel inwards, will glance off your chest and fall to the floor. If its a controlled failed rep, ie. you dont think you will get it, but want to try, then you just drop the 'bells to your side. With a bar, you are left with it crushing your chest, and usually end up having to 'roll' it down your body to your waist, so you can sit up and ditch it.

Having walked in to an otherwise empty gym, to find a guy rasping for help having pinned himself under his bench press for 10 minutes, I would take the option to be able to drop a weight easily anyday - he was in a bad way.

I myself ended up with a marvellous horizontal 'hicky' on my stomach as a youngster, as I got caught out, rolled the bar down, and it 'pinched' the skin between it and my lifting belt, breaking all the blood vessels in the process.

It was the last time I bar-benched alone.

Aside from this, I would point out that the suicide-grip is a major player here anyway, and was demonstrated in Joel's last link as well. For goodness sake, evolution spent millions of years giving us opposable thumbs - please use them when articulating large amounts of weight

Real men bench without thumbs.



And tracheas apparently.

I definitely don't disagree with you Cord. For myself having the safety of the bars, and had to use them last night ... go figure, I have come to feel a sense of safety when pushing myself beyond my limits. When lifting with dumbbells I cannot lift the same amount of weight but I sure try. Some of the last ones get VERY shaky but I can get them done however in the back of my mind as I'm lifting I'm saying "don't drop those, don't drop those ....", for if I did I would certainly hurt myself.

Now put into the context of no safety bars then for sure I would suggest dumbbells over the barbell method; just as you pointed out. I would sooner have a chance of dropping to the side or if have to take impact take less impact then to have a whole ton of weight drop on my chest and/or neck.

I use that grip for back squats so that I don't put too much strain on my wrists. Your hands don't really hold the bar up anyway, so wouldn't it be safe for squats?

That's fine because if your grip slips on squats, the bar will fall behind you most times anyway, though I would point out that if your wrists cant take a normal grip on squats, then you are lacking flexibility in your shoulder capsule, so you might want to address that.
Also, you do want to be putting some pressure into the bar through your hands, as it helps contract the traps and delts, creating a safer platform for the weight. The last thing you want is the bar actually resting on your spine - can cause painful calcium build up over time, and with heavy squating, the pressure can be a real medical danger.

My hands DO put pressure on the bar, as I keep everything (shoulders, upper back, arms, traps, etc) to hold it up correctly. It's just that I find that if I put my thumbs around the bar that my wrists sometimes get a little too much pressure, making them hurt after a bit after a set of heavy squats.

And if you're going to ask, no, my wrists never hurt after any pressing exercise :-)

I wasnt going to ask that, I merely point out that what you are talking about happens because your shoulder capsules are too tight to get your hand position truly 'under' the bar, so your wrists out of line in an effort to make up the last bit of the range of movement that your shoulders cannot accomodate.

Thats just the truth.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-t25-usc-johnsonhurt&prov=ap&type=lgns

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Although Stafon Johnson only spoke seven words, they were loaded with meaning and hope.

Repeating the last words spoken to him by his late grandfather, the Southern California tailback said, “God has a plan. Run, Stafon, run.”

Johnson already can speak in a soft, raspy voice less than three months after a weight bar crushed his throat in a potentially fatal weight room accident. He briefly demonstrated his remarkable recovery Saturday before the Trojans’ game against Stanford.

“Just the whisper, it was a big thing,” said Kim Mallory, Johnson’s mother. “I wasn’t expecting any type of sound for a while. It’s overwhelming.”

Johnson also has regained the ability to swallow and eat solid food, an improbably quick achievement after several operations on his neck, according to the doctors who have supervised his recovery since the late-September accident in the USC weight room.

Dr. Ryan Osborne said the tracheostomy tube has been removed from Johnson’s throat, and he no longer has a feeding tube in his stomach.

“Anyone looking at him today, or who heard the story, would say it’s miraculous,” said Dr. Jason Hamilton, a throat specialist. “No physician can tell a patient what his chances are for recovery. He never put limitations on himself, and that’s why he’s making great strides.”

Johnson has had three more operations since leaving the hospital Oct. 14. His right vocal cord was torn away from its mooring and his larynx was crushed.

His doctors seemed even more impressed by his ability to swallow, thinking it might be impossible for someone with such a severe injury.

“Due to a gladiator-type mentality toward his outcome … he has regained the ability to swallow,” Osborne said.

It’s too early to tell whether Johnson has the interest or ability to return to the sport. When asked if he intended to play for USC next season, he responded with a shrug.

Mallory isn’t surprised by Johnson’s determination. Johnson decided he wanted to play football when he was 5 years old, and no amount of cajoling from his mother—“Don’t you want to play baseball? Don’t you think basketball is better?” she recalled saying—could dissuade him from the violent sport.

“(There are) good days, bad days, but because Stafon is a fighter, there’s never been any (depression),” Mallory said.

Johnson only gets emotional at the thought of not being able to speak to his young son, Stafon Jr., but he’s not even on medication for pain or depression, a common necessity for patients with similar injuries.

Johnson’s doctors and family all seem optimistic for something approaching a full recovery.

“Will there be any limitations on him?” Osborne asked. Those are only going to be set by Stafon.”

Good lad.

The advantage that those with training experience have in such times, is that we already how ready the body is to improve, and we also already have a benchmark to recognise 'good' pain, 'bad' pain, and when we need to push, and ease off.

We are all also very used to using focus on a goal to channel , or expell, negative emotions.

Not saying you become a machine, but when it comes to rehab, you are half way there, because its just another workout, and when you love to workout, you are going to get good results