March 12, 200422 yr Inspirational act: Bo Jackson, the famous two-sport athlete who works with his old baseball team during the spring in Tucson, paid a visit to Joe Kay on Wednesday night at the Barrow Neurological Unit of St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. Kay is the star basketball and volleyball player for Tucson High School, who was partially paralyzed during a post-game celebration following his team's 62-54 victory over rival Salpointe Catholic High School in February. The 6-foot-6 Kay, who has a volleyball scholarship to Stanford, had his neck torqued when he was trapped on the floor, impairing his carotid artery. That brought about a stroke that led to Kay's original paralysis. But Jackson reported Kay to be in good spirits and moving around a bit during his visit. Jackson brought a jersey and bat for Kay, and the White Sox signed another jersey that soon will be delivered to him. "He's doing very well, way better than I expected him to be," said Jackson of his visit with Kay. "He's moving around in a wheelchair. He stood up and took pictures with me, and walked around a little. Basically, we sat and talked about life. "I talked to his parents and took pictures with friends who drove up to see him from Tucson -- they were all girls, of course. I just reiterated to them how important it is to have family and friends that care about you at times like this." Kay will be Jackson's personal guest at a Cactus League game at Tucson Electric Park when he is given the OK to go home. He also pointed out to Kay that while the freak accident is hard to explain, it only would make him stronger in the long run. "I told him that he shouldn't look at what happened as being in the wrong place at the wrong time or anything bad," Jackson said. "The man upstairs puts obstacles in all of our paths just to see if we can overcome them."
March 12, 200422 yr "I told him that he shouldn't look at what happened as being in the wrong place at the wrong time or anything bad," Jackson said. "The man upstairs puts obstacles in all of our paths just to see if we can overcome them." My mom says this all the time.
March 12, 200422 yr Good stuff. I also like how Stanford will honor his scholarship even though he may never play again. B)
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