UPDATE: Gales feels knee, feet for the first time
WSBTV.com
ATLANTA — A college football player, who was paralyzed during a game against the University of Georgia in September, is making huge progress.
Southern University player Devon Gales felt his knee and the bottom of his feet for the first time this week. “It's just amazing to know the feeling is coming back and I have a chance to walk again,” Gales told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes in an exclusive interview Wednesday.
As he sat in the room with Fernandes, Gales answered his cellphone, picking it up and holding it to his ear on his own – a big step for the former wide receiver. Nearly four months ago he suffered a severe spinal injury during a game in Athens.
He was taken off the field on a stretcher and couldn’t feel anything on his body.Now, he can move both of his hands and some of his fingers. Tuesday night, he felt his knee for the first time when Shepherd Center staff moved him from one chair to another.
“Just when I transferred, they hit my knee and I was like, ‘Ow! I felt that,’ and then I started feeling the hair on my legs,” Gales said. Then on Wednesday he felt the bottom of his feet for the first time – a moment his mom was there to witness.
“She was pushing me and I was like, OK, I feel that.’ It was a weird feeling because I couldn't feel that before. Just to know I had feeling coming back and I could feel the carpet I was like, ‘Ooh, I like it,’” Gales said.
Gales has been in the main part of the Shepherd Center since he was injured on Sept. 26, but lately he's made so much progress, he's been moved to the residence building, which is more like independent living.
“It’s just a blessing that there's still people out there supporting me through this accident and knowing I'm getting better,” Gales said.
Devon Gales Fund