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Fighting spirit Doctor: Thomas was doing well before sudden death
Posted: Wednesday February 09, 2000 05:34 PM
Dr. Barth Green is chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery in the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Medical Center. He spoke with CNNSI.com's Josie Karp about Derrick Thomas' attitude and progression: Josie Karp : What was his attitude and his spirit like once he found out how severe everything was and what his prognosis might be? Dr. Barth Green : Well, Derrick was initially just devastated by the death of his close friend [Michael Tillis]. And he was very much withdrawn into himself and even his family couldn't break that communication. It took a couple of days of real mourning for his friend. And once he got over that and realized that he was in the situation that he was facing, paralysis and a lot of hard work, he just said, "I'm ready for it and I'm going to do my best with it." And he told his mom, "It's not going to be easy, but I'm going to get through this thing." He's that type of person. There's no doubt that he ever felt sorry for himself. He never looked back. He was at therapy every morning before the therapists got there and was the last one to leave the gym and was ready to go out on a pass just after he arrived here. He was just ahead of schedule on everything which is what you'd expect of a sort of super athlete. Karp : Even though you expected that attitude from him, did it surprise you and encourage you to see that from him? Green : Well, it's always good for us to have a patient with such extraordinary motivation and spirit. There's no doubt that Derrick was joining the Miami Project team and he was going to be a major player in the future. His tragedy we felt would have a tremendous impact in getting rid of wheelchairs and getting the message out. He was committed to help us do that. This has all been a real shock because he was on the up and out and not in the other direction when this happened. Karp : In your business, I'm sure there are shocks that happen when things don't go as expected. How then can you be in this position and still be shocked when something like this happens? Green : Well, I guess that the people we expect to have problems are the ones that aren't doing so well as Derrick. Derrick was up in his wheelchair exercising every day and in the gym lifting weights and just participating in every program and being a A-plus student so to speak. Those aren't the people you expect to have a sudden catastrophe. He just didn't fit the profile. Everything was going well and his spirits were tremendous. He had overcome the initial depression of his loss of his friend and he was on a crescendo so to speak, with his rehabilitation and he was beginning to get some feeling back in his bladder and different areas of his body. And we were all real positive. He had started on a special experimental drug that had promise and everything was going in the right direction and this was totally unexpected. Karp : What struck you that showed Derrick Thomas was different? Green : Probably the most overwhelming theme that I'll always remember is the fact that we had to hold him back, sort of like a race horse in the box before they opened the gate to let him go. Derrick wanted to explode off the starting line. And we had to hold him back until his fracture healed because he wanted to go and lift weights and exercise and drive a car. You know, he was a race car driver and he was always on the edge. He was a tremendous athlete and all around. He wanted to go out there and do it right away. And we said, "Look, you've got to wait until your spine heals before you do this or we could be set back." So he was very cooperative. He never said any to anything we suggested. But he was always looking for ways to push the edge in a positive way. And for a physician, for people working in rehabilitation, that's a dream. Carp : How realistic were his chances of walking again? Green : Based on all the technology we have, his chances of walking naturally were minimal at this time. But we knew we could get him up in the next few weeks and months with our computerized walking systems at the Miami Project. We knew we could get him up with certain bracing systems. And we'd hoped in the near future that he'd be a candidate for transplantation because we're very close to having effective treatments for paralysis. We're not there today. But we knew that Derrick would get us there faster because of his spirit and his tremendous network. I mean Derrick was a friend with everybody. He didn't have any enemies. Everybody loved him and he was committed to helping us put an end to paralysis. Carp : Is there something you will take away that you will always admire about him even though you only knew him a short period of time? Green: I think he most amazing thing about Derrick was his tremendous personality. Once he got over the loss of his friend, and obviously he didn't get over it. But once he decided that he could deal with it internally, he just had the biggest smile, the most winning smile and the whole room lit up when he wheeled in there. So I think that's something I will never forget was his laugh and his smile and his sense of humor. He was just a tremendous person.
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