The Ledger: A Time for Thanks (Hixon)

[Brad]

A TIME FOR THANKS

Athlete Returns After Months Hospitalized With Injury

By TED BECK

Ledger Correspondent

Tennessee Tech senior receiver Drew Hixon was injured in a tough tackle Sept. 11. He was in the hospital for more than two months and just returned home to Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but he's made much progress so far.

All Rebecca and Stan Hixon had was hope and faith as they sat by their son's hospital bed counting the days, hours and minutes. Their son, Drew Hixon, was the victim of every football players' greatest nightmare -- "the hit."

It's "the hit" that makes everyone watching hold their breath. It's "the hit" that makes everyone watching wonder whether the player hit will ever breathe again. Drew Hixon did breathe again. And after spending nearly a month in a medically induced coma, he is finally on the path to recovery.

"From the beginning it was all faith," Rebecca Hixon said of her son, who will enjoy an extraordinary Thanksgiving with family in the Hixon home. "I just believed God would heal him even though it looked pretty bad. Even though I knew it was bad and the doctors were telling us it was bad, I just realized that it wasn't Drew's time."

The Hixons' nightmare began on Sept. 11. Drew Hixon, a senior receiver at Tennessee Tech, was playing against host South Florida. It was a homecoming of sorts for him. His father grew up in Lakeland and was a star receiver and quarterback for Lakeland High from 1972-74.

Drew Hixon, who never lived in Lakeland but still visits the area at least once a year, has plenty of family still living here. In addition to aunts, uncles and cousins, his grandmother, Katherine Hixon, lives in Lakeland. This did not turn out to be the homecoming the Hixons had envisioned.

The hit occurred early in the second quarter of the Bulls' 21-7 victory over Tennessee Tech. Hixon caught a pass from quarterback Robert Craft near midfield. There Bulls safety Javan Camon hit Hixon in his lower body to make the tackle. At the same time, cornerback Mike Jenkins hit him in the upper body, causing a massive collision at midfield.

Both Jenkins' and Hixon's helmets collided. Hixon's helmet flew off while the two were in the air. Hixon then hit the ground headfirst.

It is not known when Hixon lost consciousness, but Camon remembers getting up and seeing his eyes closed.

"At first I thought he might have just lost consciousness for a minute," Camon said in an interview days after the hit. "But after he was out there for a while, I realized he was really hurt."

Jenkins said he thinks his helmet hit Hixon in the jaw, and that may have been what caused him to lose consciousness. However, it could have been a number of different things that caused it.

"There are a lot of things that happened," USF head coach Jim Leavitt said. "You don't know whether it was one hit, or two hits, or the head hitting the ground, or the helmet falling off, or the mouthpiece not being in or chin strap not being buckled. A tackle happens."

Hixon's doctor in Charlottesville, Va., Richard Stevenson, affirmed the severity of Hixon's injury.

"The impact was essentially high," Stevenson said. "The injury went through his entire brain. It was similar to that of a bad automobile accident."

When Hixon arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, he was placed in a medically induced coma to help speed up the healing process.

However, on Tuesday, more than two months after the hit, he did what once looked questionable.

He went home.

The road home was a long one. Hixon, 22, was transferred from St. Joseph's to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville on Oct. 5, while still in a medically induced coma.

When he finally emerged from the coma, Hixon's recovery began. He has been rehabbing three hours a day for the past month.

Hixon, who went to high school in Kennesaw, Ga., has been walking with a cane for about two weeks now and, according to his father, Hixon's speech has returned to about 80 percent.

Rebecca Hixon made the two-hour commute from their home in northern Virginia to Charlottesville every day to watch her son's progression. Rebecca Hixon, who witnessed the hit at Raymond James Stadium, said she never let go of hope. Neither did her husband.

"We believe in God and the power of prayer," said Stan Hixon, who is the receivers coach for the Washington Redskins. "Where he's been to where he is now is nothing short of a miracle. Seeing four or five tubes down his nose was scary."

As he began coming out of the coma, both Stan and Rebecca Hixon, along with other family members from Lakeland who visited frequently, closely watched Drew Hixon's every move.

"Each little thing, as time passed, was monumental," Rebecca Hixon said. "Things like yawning and blinking were monumental things. We talked to him the whole time. We sang, read Scripture and prayed. We just tried to provide him with a real positive atmosphere, not knowing if he could hear us or not."

Hixon suffered a deep thigh bruise in the collision, as well. That injury went undetected until he awoke from the coma in Charlottesville.

"Physically, he'd be OK if he didn't have the thigh bruise," Stan Hixon said. "But mentally, he's got a ways to go."

The part of the brain that controls the personality, taste and speech is what is now healing.

"For a while there, Drew didn't have any facial expressions," his father said. "Now he's smiling and telling jokes. The personality is coming back."

As for his speech, when Hixon began coming out of the coma, he would respond only when someone began talking to him. He has since started initiating conversation.

Will his brain ever function as it did before the hit? That's uncertain, but the prognosis is optimistic. Doctors say that where Hixon is in about 18 to 24 months is probably where he'll remain. Stevenson says Drew is ahead of schedule when he compares past head injuries he's treated in 15 years as a doctor.

"He's (Drew) made tremendous changes since he's arrived (in Charlottesville)," Stevenson said. "He's done as well as anyone I've seen with this severe of an injury. This is the most severe head injury I've seen from football."

"Each and every step has been positive," Stan Hixon said. "Is he going to be at 100 percent, 95 percent or 90 percent? We just don't know, but it looks good."

Drew Hixon was an intern for the Washington Redskins scouting department last summer. That is the last thing he remembers before the hit. He does not remember returning to school or coming to Tampa to play South Florida.

In fact, he saw the hit with his father, who has it on video, for the first time Tuesday.

As for getting back to school, Hixon has two classes remaining before he graduates from Tennessee Tech with a finance degree. According to his father, Drew is itching to get back to school and wants to return this spring, but he is not ready. The family is hopeful that he can go back in the fall.

For now, it's time for Hixon and his family to just be around one another and, perhaps more than ever, give thanks.

"We learned to take one day at a time," his mother said. "Time frame was something I learned not to worry about. But I'm so happy that he'll be here this Thanksgiving. It will be a day with a whole lot of meaning."

Story Link

[BigShoop]

*applause*

[E.T.]

An excellent recovery so far. Keep working Drew.

[Guest AstroBull]

Glad he is progressing well

[Guest HowieP1]

Redskins Daily

By Warpath  Staff

Date: Dec 2, 2004

He had a hard time making his way down the hall. Not because he couldn't walk, though a cane slowed him. What slowed him more were all the hugs and well-wishes he received. But the Redskins players were just happy to see Drew Hixon moving on his own.  

After spending part of his last college season in a coma, that alone is a victory. Hixon, a receiver at Tennessee Tech, was injured in a Sept. 11 game at South Florida. He's now at home doing outpatient rehab and is talking somewhat normally.

One Redskins staffer said they had tears in their eyes after talking to Hixon, who was an intern for the Redskins this summer.

A number of players stopped Hixon as he walked to the lunch room, with Laveranues Coles giving him a big hug and saying, ''Hey, buddy! How ya doin'?''. And quarterback Mark Brunell told him several times, ''You're a miracle.''

Stan Hixon said it made for their most special Thanksgiving.

''Most definitely,'' Hixon said. ''The whole family was together.''

http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=64&p=2&c=325592

[bullwark]

I hope the young man makes a full recovery, great story!

[Ricky the Bull]

Tennessee Tech WR Recovering Well

Published: Dec 3, 2004

 

WASHINGTON - A few months ago, Washington Redskins wide receivers coach Stan Hixon was spending all of his time at St. Joseph's hospital in Tampa, hoping his son Drew - a wide receiver at Tennessee Tech - would recover from life-threatening head injuries suffered Sept. 11 at Raymond James Stadium against the University of South Florida.

Thursday, Stan and Drew Hixon were walking the halls of Redskins Park together, with the younger Hixon having made a dramatic recovery.

Drew Hixon was greeted by players and staff around the complex and was smiling broadly while moving well with the help of a cane. He was released from Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center in Charlottesville, Va., in time to spend Thanksgiving with his family and is now living with his parents.

``We think it's a miracle where he has come from where we were,'' Stan Hixon said. ``And he just keeps getting better and better and we're just glad to see him. It was a great Thanksgiving.''

Hixon, a senior wide receiver at Tennessee Tech, was in a coma for nearly a month after the helmet-to- helmet collision. He is now speaking well and has retained his memory.

http://tampatrib.com/sportsnews/MGB2T0RW92E.html

[BULLfreak]

one hell of a kid

[USFJDawg21]

Excellent news  

[The_Reaper]

Awesome to hear. We should make him an honarary Bull!