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Friday, March 2, 2001
Jones’ condition UNIVERSITY of Hawaii football coach June Jones won't be eating sweet-potato pie, a favorite of his, anytime soon. But he is now able to drink fluids, sit for a few minutes and speak a little, say doctors.
improving
The UH football coach can
drink fluids, speak and is
aware drills began2001 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
By Janine Tully
Star-BulletinAnd he's very aware that spring's football drills have started.
He has been talking to the coaches about the schedule, said his good friend Artie Wilson, who attended a news conference on Jones' condition at Queen's Medical Center yesterday.
Jones has been upgraded from guarded to satisfactory condition and continues to make progress toward his recovery, said doctors. However, it will be several weeks before he is released.
"His recovery is remarkable," said trauma surgeon and attending physician Dr. Neil Fergusson. The injuries in Jones' aorta and abdomen are healing well, and he has regained his bodily functions, Fergusson said.
Jones was taken to Queen's in critical condition last Thursday after his black 1999 Lincoln Town Car veered off the H-1 freeway and rammed head on into a pillar of the Kamehameha Highway overpass. He was not wearing a seat belt.
He underwent surgery to stop the bleeding in his abdomen and a second one to repair a ruptured aorta. Fergusson said Jones didn't bleed to death because the blood was contained in the area of the injury. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made it to the hospital, he said.That, and the fact that he is a young and athletic individual helped save his life, Fergusson said.
Except for a minor injury in his right elbow, which is being monitored, all acute injuries have been taken care of and are healing, Fergusson said. Tests show he suffered no neck or spine injuries, and his neck brace has been removed, he said.
Wilson said family and friends have not talked to Jones about the accident, or whether he remembers what happened.
"That has not been discussed, and is not important at this time," he said.
But one of the doctors said a nurse or a doctor may have mentioned the car accident to Jones in answer to questions about why he was at the hospital.
Jones remains in intensive care and he still has tubes coming out of his chest. He's also being fed intravenously, Fergusson said. But he is alert and able to move around.
"He's been out of bed, sitting up and watching TV," Wilson said. "He was even aware that something (earthquake) happened in Seattle."
The most important thing for Jones now is to rest, said doctors.
"That's instrumental to his recovery for the life-threatening injury he sustained," said Dr. Gail Tominaga, Queen's Medical Center trauma services medical director.
Wilson again asked that the public refrain from visiting the coach at the hospital and to give the family some quiet time.
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