Newsome

I posted on the now dead forum about Newsome's injury. I'm no Dr of course but I had a case years ago that involved the same kind of injury and I learned a lot about it as a result. Newsome had an anterior knee dislocation which means that the top of the tibia at the knee gets totally pushed backwards out of the knee joint. There is a major artery called the popliteal artery which runs behind the knee and supplies most of the blood to the lower leg. In an anterior dislocation that artery can be severed and most of the blood supply to the lower leg is lost. Immediate action is needed to repair the artery and restore blood flow or the leg is lost. In my case the Dr didn't recognize the injury and my client's leg was lost. Fortunately the UM Drs acted quickly and Newsome's leg was saved. That said a complete disruption of the knee joint and severence of the major artery to the lower leg are major major injuries from which I was told there can be no complete recovery. Granted there have been major advances in medicine since my case many years ago. While its great that Newsome can run and apparently has full normal use of his knee, that's not the same as playing football on it. I can't imagine he isn't much more susceptible to even more serious injury if he receives what would otherwise be a normal blow to the knee.

Of course we'll see what the Drs say. If I had to bet though I'd say they are holding out the prospect of his playing again as motivation for him to fully rehab knowing that he will never be able to play again. It's a shame to be sure but he seems to be a great kid who will succeed other than at football and hopefully on two functioning legs.