Damewood suffers broken bone in neck

MONMOUTH - The last thing you want to see during a team scrimmage is any sort of injury.

However, during Saturday's Monmouth-Roseville Gatorade Scrimmage, the injury bug bit hard.

Junior running back Jeremy Damewood suffered a broke bone in his neck halfway through the Titan's scrimmage. Damewood was taken from the field by ambulance to OSF in Monmouth before being moved to St. Francis Hospital in Peoria.

Monmouth-Roseville coach Curt Crum told the Review Atlas Sunday afternoon that Damewood was to undergo surgery to repair the bone in his vertebrae.

"They had to perform surgery," Crum said. "It is certainly a serious injury but they are hopeful for a full recovery."

The injury isn't related to paralysis as Crum said Damewood has feeling in his extremities.

Crum also said Damewood was in good spirits before his surgery.

The injury occurred after Damewood caught a pass from quarterback Ryan Nelson, turned up field and tackled by junior linebacker Bryan Utsinger and senior defensive back John Ayers.

"He came down in such a way where his head hit the ground and broke a bone in his neck," Crum said.

At press time, it was unknown how long Damewood would be in the hospital. However, Crum said he has plenty of company to keep him busy.

"There have been numerous phone calls asking how he is doing," Crum said. "He is talking with his family and some of his friends have been here to see him."

Source: http://www.reviewatlas.com/articles/2007/08/20/sports/sports1.txt