Tyler leaves hospital

By Joe Conroy

Published: September 20, 2008

After several worrisome hours and an overnight stay at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Freedom’s Raghib Tyler walked out of medical care Saturday morning when he was released.
Tyler was injured covering a kickoff in Freedom’s 25-24 win over Stonewall Jackson Friday night and lost feeling in both his arms and legs. He was airlifted from the parking lot to Fairfax after an ambulance crew removed him from the field.
The senior running back had an MRI and CAT Scan performed Friday night and doctors found nothing alarming.
“He’s at home now and when I talked to him this morning, he said he was a little sore but able to move his arms and legs,” Freedom athletic director Brad Qualls said.
Qualls said Tyler began regaining feeling in his arms first at around 10 p.m., about a half hour before Qualls arrived at the hospital.
“Then his feet started tingling and then his legs,” Qualls said. “When I got there he had almost full range with his arms and was wiggling his feet.
“He never lost consciousness and was able to communicate with us the whole time,” Qualls added.
Qualls said he wasn’t sure how Tyler injured himself on the play and didn’t think it was a case of a bad tackle.
“The play looked normal — his head was up when he made the hit,” Qualls said. “The way he fell, you could tell something was wrong with how awkward it was.”
Freedom athletic Trainer Carrie Fike immediately stabilized Tyler’s head and neck on the field and made the call for an ambulance. Tyler did not need to be turned over, having landed on his back.
“He was able to communicate and move his eyes,” Qualls said.
Tyler will see a spinal specialist before being medically cleared to return to football.