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West Virginia has scary situation with Donaldson injury

The West Virginia Mountaineers football team had a scary situation with Donaldson.
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team had a scary situation with Donaldson.

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West Virginia Neal Brown had never been in a situation like what unfolded at Texas in his coaching career.

Standout freshman running back CJ Donaldson was injured on what appeared to be a routine carry but did not get up and was lying motionless on the field.

That stopped play as medical personnel surrounded Donaldson and eventually after around a 15-minute delay was able to get him onto a stretcher and into a hospital for evaluation.

The Mountaineers were kneeled around Donaldson as he was being attended to by medical personnel and there was clear looks of concern all around for his heath. The situation became bigger than the football game itself and one that brought things into perspective.

“It was terrifying honestly. Just to be playing with him one snap and the next he’s getting taken off on a stretcher. It’s the game we play but my prayers are with him,” wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton said.

Fortunately, there was good news for the health of Donaldson after the game.

“He’s alert, he’s stable and has movement in his extremities,” Brown said. “Obviously our thoughts and prayers since that happened have been with him.”

The head coach credited the work done by the medical team along with those at Texas for handling the situation and taking the proper precautions.

Donaldson was able to fly back with the team after the game and while there no further updates on his status moving forward it was a sigh of relief for all involved. Still, there was a game to finish and that meant trying to regroup the team after the scary side of the game.

“I’m sitting there as a father of three and I knew his mom wasn’t there and that’s really all I could think about. He was responding and we’re encouraged by how he’s doing,” Brown said. “This stuff is entertainment, there is a lot of pageantry and tradition. But it’s not about getting kids hurt.”

Brown was pleased with how his team responded to the incident although he admitted that his group was hurt by what happened on the field.

“It was scary but I do credit our guys in the locker room. We played some of our better football after that. We really did, but it’s really tough,” Brown said.

It’s a reminder of the physicality of the game of football and something that no team wants to endure.

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