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Teen hurt in hockey game improving little by little
Family rejoices in a smile, a meal, latest tests
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Friday, December 05, 2008
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Members of the Dayton Bombers hockey team say a prayer with Kyle Cannon on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 4, at Miami Valley Hospital. Cannon suffered an injury while playing hockey at the Kettering Recreation Center on Nov. 30. Staff photo by Jim Noelker
Kyle Cannon, from Clay High School, who broke his neck. Contributed photoDAYTON — In the five exhausting days since hockey player Kyle Cannon suffered a broken neck, his family has been riding a medical roller coaster.
Recent developments are good. The 14-year-old from Oregon, Ohio, ate solid food Thursday, Dec. 4, for the first time since Sunday's injury. He's had some sensation in his wrists and feeling in his abdomen — and he smiled.
Seeing a little joy on his son's face gave Jim Cannon a huge lift.
"He smiled today — had a big one where you saw all his teeth," Cannon said in Miami Valley Hospital's intensive care unit. "We're just trying to stay strong, and keep telling him that it's going to take hard work; baby steps."
Jim Cannon hopes the sensations Kyle has felt, plus sensor tests showing more activity at the shoulders and neck after Monday's spinal fusion surgery, will soon lead to Kyle regaining movement. The family hopes to move Kyle to St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo today.
"When we got news that he shrugged his shoulders, it's very emotional just to hear that," Cannon said. "Even just a smile is big, and I'm on the phone right away, telling people, 'He smiled.' Every step is huge."
Kyle got another boost Thursday when five Dayton Bombers players, the team president and team chaplain dropped by. But it could be a local teenager who is giving the Cannons the biggest lift.
Centerville's Joe Ross, who suffered a neck fracture and paralysis in a hockey game three years ago, has visited Kyle, and the family has found several parallels between the boys. They hope to find one more parallel in the coming weeks — one where Kyle walks out of a hospital, just like Joe did.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or
jkelley@daytondailynews.com.
