![]() How's Colt doing?" He wants to know all the formations. Let's get him on that ambulance, get him the surgery, get this fixed.Īs we ride in the ambulance, Alex says, "Pull up the score. But in my mind, I'm just thinking, let's go. Alex screams as they try to readjust his leg. In the medical room there are people crowded around Alex - the doctors, Mr. My in-laws take the kids, and I head to the tunnels. ![]() But for me, our children, Alex's parents, this is more than that. To everybody else, this is a player that's down. He says, "Mom, the cart's coming." And he knows that when the cart comes, it's serious. I look down and he's welling up with tears. I'm thinking, is it his ankle? Is it his knee? Our 7-year-old, Hudson, tugs at me. ![]() He's lying there, and I see that he grabs for his leg. We all stand because we realize it's Alex down. And that day was just like any other game. It's football, and though Alex is only 34 at this point, it's his 14th year in the league.Įveryone is tailgating and having a great time. We always say the same thing, "Love you," then hang up. Right before I get to the stadium, Alex gives me a call. We'll jump in the car, pick up friends and family in D.C., then head to the stadium. The kids and I, we wake up, do our breakfast, shower, get ready. He spends the night before the game at the team hotel. 18, 2018, started out like any other home game day. And anything beyond that is a miracle." How'd we get here? And then we're going to do our best to save his leg. And right now, our first priority is we're going to save his life. She said: "Elizabeth, we're doing the best we can. We need to make sure he's OK."Īnd these were her exact words. I can't go home to my children without him with me. I just need to know - why can't we just - cut it off? I need to know if I'm going to be able to leave this place with him with me. I said, "Please, can you just break this down for me? My husband is laying here. We head to the cafeteria annex, which had become my private escape. I send Robin (West) a text and ask her if we can meet privately and talk. I need someone to sit me down and tell me exactly what's going to happen. Family, friends, everybody is on high emotion.Īnd I just need some grounding. We're being inundated with medical language. So Alex has a flesh-eating bacteria that's eating away his at his leg. There is one really rare bacteria in his bloodstream, aeromonas hydrophila, a bacteria typically found in freshwater or brackish water. Then, the cultures came back and, sure enough, it's necrotizing fasciitis. Now it's Friday, and they are going back in to cut out more tissue. ![]() We removed a big portion of the anterior compartment." "There was colonization of the bacteria all through his soft tissue. The doctors finally walk in, and they look defeated. I couldn't even tell you how long it was, but it felt like we were waiting for an eternity. Robin West, the head team physician, flew back from Dallas to join in on the surgery. The Redskins were in Texas playing the Cowboys that day, but Dr. We have to take him into surgery again."Īlex's parents are there. It's something I couldn't fathom seeing in a war movie, only now it's my husband. At that time, it looked normal, at least as normal as post-surgical fracture sites look.īut now his leg is black. He unwraps the bandages from Alex's leg, even though it had been unwrapped just a few hours before. He would tell us later he came in because he couldn't sleep. Steve Malekzadeh, one of Alex's trauma surgeons, comes in early the next morning. ![]()
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