As Tuesday starts to come to a close we now know that Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier will remain in a Cincinnati hospital through at least the night. A short time ago, a joint statement from David Okonkwo, MD, PHD, and Joseph Cheng, MD was released regarding the current status of Shazier, who suffered a back injury during the first quarter of the Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Ryan Shazier continues to be hospitalized at UC Health’s University of Cincinnati Medical Center and has undergone a series of tests to evaluate his spine injury. He will continue to be monitored and treated by the neurosurgery experts at UC Medical Center until he has been cleared to return to Pittsburgh.
It is expected that Ryan will undergo additional testing and evaluation over the next 24 to 48 hours, and he will then return to Pittsburgh to receive further evaluation and care at UPMC.
Please note: David Okonkwo, MD, PHD, is the Director of Neurotrauma at UPMC and is a neurosurgeon on the medical staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Joseph Cheng, MD, is Chief of Neurosurgery for UC Health, and the Frank H. Mayfield Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of Cincinnati.”
For now, all we can do is hope and pray that Shazier continues to make progress with his injury, which many believe is ether a spinal cord contusion or concussion. It’s still too early to speculate as to what all of this means for Shazier’s immediate and long term future as well.
On Tuesday, our very own Melanie Friedlander re-tweeted a the thoughts of Kern Singh, MD concerning the back injury sustained Shazier and you can read that below. Pleade remember that he is only speculating based on what he has seen and read.
