Just a day after a tragic throat injury while weightlifting, Stafon Johnson is recovering well and his prognosis appears very good, trauma director Gudata Hinika said during a press conference at California Hospital this morning.
Johnson rested well on Monday night and is already communicating nonverbally with his family and friends. Hinika expects Johnson to make a full recovery and eventually return to playing football, though he did not give a timeframe.
The senior from Compton is expected to remain in intensive care at California Hospital for about a week, Hinika said.
For seven hours on Monday afternoon and evening, doctors performed a "very successful surgery" to repair Johnson's airway and reconstruct his voice box. Hinika said the anatomy of the structure around Johnson's vocal cord was "destroyed, fractured and displaced" after the freak weightlifting accident on Monday morning at USC. Hinika said Johnson was not able to breathe on his own when he arrived at the hospital, and he underwent the emergency operation right away.
Johnson now has a temporary tracheotomy and feeding tube.
"He's doing as well as expected," Hinika said.
Though he is writing and using hand signals already, doctors do not know when Johnson will be able to verbally communicate.
"We'll have to wait and see," Hinika said.
Hinika called the injury "very, very rare," but said his athletic background aided him.
"If anyone is not athletic like Stafon, maybe they don't survive," Hinika said. "His neck is so solid and muscular and [he has] the discipline of being an athlete. He was able to stay calm and took instruction very well. He's a brilliant guy who understood his situation and handled it well.
"Being physically fit certainly helped."
Along with the positive prognosis, Johnson also has an uplifting attitude considering the circumstances, Hinika said.
"His spirit was very good from the time he came in," Hinika said.
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