DETROIT — In a burst of vigor heartening to a city that has seen more than its share of wounded sports heroes, Reggie Brown sprang from a wheelchair and walked with a confident gait to the podium.
"I'm OK. . . . and I will be back to normal," Brown said at a news conference at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital on Wednesday.
Brown, the Detroit Lion linebacker who suffered a serious spinal injury during a Dec. 21 game, is making a stunning recovery. Doctors said Wednesday that Brown's prognosis is far rosier than for most people who suffer a similar injury.
He will not play pro football or contact sports again, but he has come far from the frightening moment on the synthetic turf of the Pontiac Silverdome that left millions of fans praying for his life.
Today, Brown, 23, will head to Houston to be with his family and begin rehabilitation.
"I'm looking forward to getting home and getting my life together," Brown told the visibly moved audience. "I thought I'd never be able to walk again."
Brown's recovery probably will take a year, doctors said. The metal halo that keeps his head and spine in place will remain for at least three more months. The motion in his neck will be permanently impaired, and he might not regain complete strength in his hands. Nonetheless, doctors were surprised by his progress.
In terms of recovery, "He is in that upper 2% of patients with that injury," said Dr. Russ Nockels, director of spine neurosurgery at Henry Ford. "If you asked me what I expected for Reggie last week, I wouldn't expect this."
Neurosurgeons use an index to measure motor function in which 100 is the benchmark for a healthy, mobile person. Nockels said Brown was a zero immediately after the accident, 49 in the hospital and is now at 89.
The care Brown received on the field immediately after his injury made the crucial difference, doctors said. He had lost feeling in his arms and legs and could not breathe.
Improper treatment in the first minutes often ends in tragedy for some of the 15,000 people in North America who incur spinal injuries annually. By the time he reached Henry Ford for surgery, the balance had tipped in Brown's favor,
"It's almost miraculous, the condition he was transported here," Nockels said. "They got him to us in a condition we were able to capitalize on."
