DMN Blog: Cowboys' scouting assistant paralyzed

PosterChild

New Member
Messages
2,028
Reaction score
0
The Cowboys issued a release moments ago updating the status of three people that were taken to the hospital after their indoor practice facility collapsed.

Rich Behm, a scouting assistant, sustained a fracture to the thoracic spine that caused a severing of his spinal cord and permanent paralysis from the waist down. He underwent surgery Saturday night and remains at Parkland Hospital in stable condition.

Behm moved from the team's video department to scouting a few years ago and worked closely with Chris Hall, the team's college scouting coordinator, and director of college and pro scouting Tom Ciskowski.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones and coach Wade Phillips spent a large part of Saturday night/Sunday morning with the Behm family. More coaches and players visited the hospital today.


"To the Behm family we extend our love, comfort, and the full support of every person and resource within the organization," Jones said in a statement released by the team." Rich is a courageous member of our family and someone for whom we care deeply. We ask for all friends and fans of the Dallas Cowboys to join us in embracing him and his family with their thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time."

The release also stated special teams coach Joe DeCamillis will undergo surgery Monday for a fracture of one of his cervical vertebrae. He is in stable condition without paralysis at Parkland Hospital.

Assistant athletic trainer Greg Gaither had surgery Saturday to repair a fracture of his right tibia and fibula at Baylor University Medical Center. He should be released later this week.

Here is the rest of Jones' statement: "As we share concern for everyone who was touched by this accident, we also extend our heartfelt and best wishes to Coach Joe DeCamillis and his family as they prepare for Joe's surgery tomorrow.

"We are grateful that Greg Gaither's surgery was successful, and we feel blessed that others involved were able to walk away from this accident after receiving medical attention yesterday afternoon.

"The Dallas Cowboys organization would like to express its deepest appreciation to the City of Irving's Fire, Police and medical emergency teams that collectively responded to the accident in the most timely and thorough manner yesterday. We are also grateful to those Cowboys players and staff members who acted so quickly and heroically in the face of personal danger to help those around them who were in need of immediate assistance."

http://cowboysblog.***BANNED-URL***/archives/2009/05/cowboys-scouting-assistant-paralyzed.html
 

JonJon

Injured Reserve
Messages
11,262
Reaction score
733
Wow that is unfortunate. My prayers are with him and his family.
 

Boyzmamacita

CowBabe Up!!!
Messages
29,047
Reaction score
64,100
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Oh no. I am so sorry to read this. My prayers are with Behm and his family. This is tragic.
 

ethiostar

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,309
Reaction score
46
Oh wow, what a terrible news:(

My thoughts go out to him and his family/friends.
 

PosterChild

New Member
Messages
2,028
Reaction score
0
I'm interested in learning how he was extricated fr the debris..ie was he pulled out by rescue personnel or otherwise? Sounds like the catastrophic injury is attributable to an impact injury anyway. At any rate, he's lucky to be alive and have upper limb function. Could be worse. All the best to him in his recovery/rehab.
 

DallasEast

Cowboys 24/7/365
Staff member
Messages
62,299
Reaction score
63,983
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
One chapter of Rich Behm's life has ended and the next chapter has begun. Here's hoping that with the Lord's help, he and his family can navigate the road laid down for him with both inner courage and personal fortitude. God bless him and his family.
 

BrAinPaiNt

Mike Smith aka Backwoods Sexy
Staff member
Messages
78,651
Reaction score
42,995
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
Terrible news that he will not walk, but good news that he is still alive.

Hopefully he can remain strong with the love of his friends and family and return to being a scout for the cowboys. It will not be easy but all things are possible. He might not be able to walk, but he still has his mind and heart.

Best wishes to you and your family Sir.
 

Typhus

Captain Catfish
Messages
21,217
Reaction score
24,065
Thats tragic news.
I was praying that everyone escaped this tragedy with only the healing type of injuries.
Hopefully he will get the best rehab available, and I've read cases about patience being labeled paralyzed, that actually fought through the pain of rehab, and regained the use of their legs and were able to walk again.
Lets all pray this man walks again some day.
 

tomson75

Brain Dead Shill
Messages
16,720
Reaction score
1
I seem to recall this forum being able to put together a message for Buffalo's Kevin Everett when he was injured a few years ago. Would it be possible to make a similar message for Mr. Behm? Would we have any means of conveying the message directly to the Dallas Cowboys or Behm himself?
 

igtmfo

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,322
Reaction score
127
No life-altering injuries from this disaster seemed too good to be true ..

I hope, maybe with Jerry's help, he gets the very best of care, and comes back strong.
 

Kevinicus

Well-Known Member
Messages
19,884
Reaction score
12,670
Typhus;2761685 said:
Thats tragic news.
I was praying that everyone escaped this tragedy with only the healing type of injuries.
Hopefully he will get the best rehab available, and I've read cases about patience being labeled paralyzed, that actually fought through the pain of rehab, and regained the use of their legs and were able to walk again.
Lets all pray this man walks again some day.

I'll pray for a miracle as well, and would love for him to beat the odds, but if the spine was actually severed, not just damaged, then unfortunately I don't think there is much hope in this instance. I hope he is still able to live each day to the fullest and live a long rich life.
 

dadymat

I'm kind of a Big Deal
Messages
6,023
Reaction score
1
sad news, hopefully for his sake he can resume his career in NFL in some form.....it would suck to lose your freedom of movement and on top of that lose your career....
 

Primetime42

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,492
Reaction score
835
Typhus;2761685 said:
Thats tragic news.
I was praying that everyone escaped this tragedy with only the healing type of injuries.
Hopefully he will get the best rehab available, and I've read cases about patience being labeled paralyzed, that actually fought through the pain of rehab, and regained the use of their legs and were able to walk again.
Lets all pray this man walks again some day.
I really, really hate to be that guy, but a severed spinal cord pretty much means thare's no hope of that.

The best we can hope for is that he's able to rehab to a point where he's able to take care of himself and have some semblance of a normal life.

Maybe if he really wants, he can get back into scouting.
 
Top