Here's an update from the dad/coach of the injured Derby wrestler. First of all we want to say thanks to all the awesome people from the Derby Junior Club for their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes during this terrible experience. Thanks for coming over and filling every square inch of our living room, dining room and stairway to surround our son with your well wishes, love, cards, and cookies. You lifted his spirits in a way you'll never know. It was a heartwarming moment that helped me reflect on what I love about this sport and the powerful bonds that are built. We would also like to thank the coaches and wrestlers from WWC for delivering a card and candy basket on behalf of their entire club. WWC has always been a great rival, a tough wrestling club and a true class act. I also hope that my 1st post and subsequent posts did Not and do Not reflect any ill will towards the Ark City Takedown Club. The ACTC also has a rich tradition of wrestling excellence. They have always been one of the benchmarks by which we (Derby) measure our success as a club. We love beating their wrestlers and they love beating us but the respect has always been there since we first met on the mat. There are some great folks with the ACTC that I would consider good friends and would open my home to anytime. I also know they would reciprocate. I applaud them for the changes they've made to rid themselves of the cancer that affected their club so negatively. It won't take them long to get their kids back to the top of the game. Now.....as for my son, he's recovering at home and tonight is the first night since the incident that he hasn't been in extreme pain. The surgeon informed us that the damage to his elbow was much more extensive than she initially thought. She had to make a much larger incision than she predicted and there was a large muscle mass in addition to the broken bone that had to be moved from the outer part of the elbow back to the inner part of the elbow (its pre-injury location) and then pinned to hold everything in place. The surgeon said and I quote "do you know how much force it takes to injure an elbow to that extent?" The Dr. wants the cast off in 7-10 days to start rehabilitation. She's very concerned about full range of motion and mobility if rehabilitaion doesn't start soon. That's going to be a long painful road for my son that I'm yet to figure out how to explain. Our hope is right now that there is no permanent damage. I appreciate the post that stated that these such incidents are rare in our sport. I hope you will all join me in using talk forums like these and other means to ensure that such incidents remain rare. I don't want any other wrestler or wrestler's family to go through this experience and we are doing what we can to ensure the truth is known, the tape is reviewed by the appropriate officials. Then, hopefully our referees, coaches, and wrestlers will work to ensure any injury in our sport is truly accidental and that Ultimate Fighting techniques will never be tolorated nor allowed to find a place in kids wrestling. Thanks again for all the positive posts, well wishes, and encouraging thoughts. Good luck to all this weekend whatever city you're in and mat you participate on. Compete hard, compete well, and compete fair.
Sincerely, All4thekids.