If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

This isn’t a blog about some cutesy PR gimmick or case study. But there is a deep lesson here that could apply in our professional and personal lives. I read a story this week that just took my breath away, for several reasons. The recovery of Kevin Everett is remarkable. But it’s the story behind the story, one key moment to be exact, that needs reflection. Everett is the Buffalo Bills football player who was paralyzed while making a tackle during the first game of the season. Everett’s spinal cord was not severed, but was severely damaged, leaving little hope of recovery.  He lay on the field that day a quadriplegic. Yet three months later he’s walking, and slowly regaining motor skills throughout his body. His inner strength and courage is inspiring. As is that of a doctor who treated Everett, Dr. Andrew Cappuccino.

After giving Everett a battery of tests and going through all the usual treatments associated with this type of injury, Cappuccino made one controversial decision that may have changed Everett’s prognosis forever. We may never know if Cappuccino’s decision was the turning point. There’s a huge debate raging in the medical community about the doc’s decision and the actual impact on Everett. We do know he went against the opinion of many, and that of conventional wisdom, because he felt strongly that this was Everett’s only hope. 

Dr. Cappuccino made the decision to induce hypothermia, believing it would provide “neuroprotection” and reduce swelling, thus relieving pressure on the severely damaged spinal cord.  Cold therapy is used for other ailments, but not for spinal cord injuries.  Cappuccino sought counsel in his wife, who is also a doctor.  From the Sports Illustrated article, “At one point during the debate over inducing hypothermia, Cappuccino called his wife, whose medical judgment he trusts. She encouraged him to go with his instincts. “I’m human,” says Cappuccino. “Things passed through my mind. If I do this and it blows up in my face, I’m exposing myself to a lot of scrutiny. We could lose the house, lose the cars, the kids don’t go to college. But I had to be able to put my head on the pillow that night and believe that I did the best job I could do.”

The article continues, “Everett was placed on the CoolGard in the predawn hours of Monday, Sept. 10, and within two hours his body had cooled to a temperature of 91.5°. That morning Everett was able to squeeze his thighs against Cappuccino’s hands. “Everybody was stunned,” says Cappuccino, “including me.”

It doesn’t so much matter whether or not this one decision actually made the difference. It’s the fact that he made the choice, and stood by it. That’s how diseases are cured. That’s why we can wake up in Raleigh and go to sleep in Tokyo.  That’s why there’s an American Flag stuck on the moon. And why patients who otherwise would spend the rest of their lives in a coma, or in bed, can now lead productive lives…because someone like Dr. Cappuccino had the guts to do something no one else had tried.

Share This