Rodney Rogers: "I Just Want To Be Able to Walk Again."

[Teletopez]

For Rogers and Suggs, living each day is about believing that he'll walk again. "I hope and pray that in the near future, I'll get my arms back, and then hopefully my legs," Rogers says. "If I had to walk with a cane or something, that'd be fine. I just want to be able to walk again."

 

Rogers says his fiancée didn't want him to go dirt biking in rural Vance County, about an hour's drive from their Durham, N.C., home, on the morning of his accident. It was the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, 2008, and Suggs' son from a previous relationship, Devonte, had a football game that evening. But Rogers insisted and gave Suggs money to go shopping while he was riding. He said he'd be back in time for dinner and the game.

 

When Suggs returned home at 5 p.m., Rogers wasn't there. Still, she didn't think anything was wrong until one of his friends called and told Suggs she needed to go to Duke Hospital immediately because Rogers was being taken there.

 

"After that, I started calling his friends, but a couple of them wouldn't even answer the phone," Suggs says. "When they did, they wouldn't tell me what happened."

 

Suggs arrived before the ambulance and stood outside, where Rogers' mother and sister were also waiting. When Rogers arrived, still conscious, he saw Suggs. "Please don't be mad at me," he said to her. "I think I broke my neck."

ESPN

 

Doctors told Rogers he has a 5% chance of being able to walk again. Best wishes to him with whatever lies ahead.

[Universe]

Loved him as a player and wish him nothing but the best in his recovery.

[TheHutch]

Damn man, that's so sad. The video was hard to watch.