Soccer Player Suffers Serious Spinal Injury After Landing On Neck

Congolese striker Rudy Ndey took a horrible tumble over the goalkeeper in an African Confederation Cup match earlier this week, landing on his head and twisting his neck at a really dangerous angle. The fall caused serious spinal injuries, but reports are that his condition is stabilizing.

After Ndey’s fall, the match was called off and the striker immediately taken to a hospital there in Egypt for surgery. Here’s the doctor who performed the surgery with the most recent update, by way of the BBC:

On Tuesday, Dr Salah Abdelkhaleq said the player was doing better but it was too early to say if he will play again.

“He had serious damage to his spinal column between the fifth and sixth vertebrae, a blow to the spinal cord, breathing difficulties and brain bleeding, but the surgery was successful,” the doctor said.

“The latest is that respiration is now stable after instability respiration on Monday. Chest muscles have been affected because of bruises in the cervical spinal cord.

“His blood pressure has stabilised, and the player is conscious and recognises people around him.

“As the main problem is the bruise in the spinal cord, we can judge the case after he get days of rest and medical follow-up.”

As a show of support, Zamalek, the club Ndey’s AC Leopards were facing, have volunteered to pay all of the player’s medical expenses.

[ BBC]