Tua's Injury

[TIDE-HSV]

My son Chase was diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis at 21 years old. His surgeon said he was the youngest patient he'd ever treated with that disease (and the youngest patient he'd performed a total hip replacement on). The surgery went well, and his recovery time was nothing short of miraculous. Of course, his age played a huge role in his recovery. Even now, several years later, he still walks with a slight limp if he's been on his feet all day. His orthopedist said he would most likely have to have a second hip replacement in a few years. He played football for several years, but his love was baseball and he'd played since he was 4. A habit of his was turning either hip to the plate to deflect a HBP. After watching him go through all of this, it breaks my heart knowing what a long road Tua has ahead of him. Thankfully, Tua does have the "best of the best" at his side.

Since they got the dislocation reduced so quickly, Tua has a good chance of avoiding AN and THR like your son. I'm astounded your son developed it from what you described...

 

[Elefantman]

I was just watching a replay of SEC nation from last night. They were showing Tua's final stats as an Alabama QB. It hit me then that we will not see another laser pass for a TD or any other magical play from #13. With Tua it got to the point that every time he loaded up and fired down field you expected to be completed for a big play. With most QB's prior to Tua, I would hold my breath and cross my fingers as the ball was in the air.

My prayers go out to Tua and his family. God has a plan, I hope that plan is to have him dazzle football fans everywhere with more magic.

 

[TideEngineer08]

I was just watching a replay of SEC nation from last night. They were showing Tua's final stats as an Alabama QB. It hit me then that we will not see another laser pass for a TD or any other magical play from #13. With Tua it got to the point that every time he loaded up and fired down field you expected to be completed for a big play. With most QB's prior to Tua, I would hold my breath and cross my fingers as the ball was in the air.

My prayers go out to Tua and his family. God has a plan, I hope that plan is to have him dazzle football fans everywhere with more magic.

As I said in the game thread, before it happened, I had never seen an offense before this one where 3rd and long was not an obstacle. It's still too raw for me to accept that this is the end of the Tua era.

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

As I said in the game thread, before it happened, I had never seen an offense before this one where 3rd and long was not an obstacle. It's still too raw for me to accept that this is the end of the Tua era.

Yeah, my heart goes out to him and his family...…………...tough way to end a career, and pretty unfair. But while his time at Bama is done, I dont think we have heard the end of Tua...........I wish him the best that life has to offer

 

[BamaLuver]

Since they got the dislocation reduced so quickly, Tua has a good chance of avoiding AN and THR like your son. I'm astounded your son developed it from what you described...

We were too, and as far as we know, no one else in the family has ever had a history of hip problems. There was no alcohol abuse or excessive steroid use at his age. He experienced pain for a good while before he finally received the official diagnosis. Some days his knees would hurt, but most days he thought he had a groin pull or strain. Otherwise, he was in great shape, thin and exercised daily (until his hip wouldn't allow it anymore). We thought he would end up at Duke for surgery, but the timetable to get him approved was much too long (they were afraid what was left would simply collapse before they could get to him).

 

[TIDE-HSV]

We were too, and as far as we know, no one else in the family has ever had a history of hip problems. There was no alcohol abuse or excessive steroid use at his age. He experienced pain for a good while before he finally received the official diagnosis. Some days his knees would hurt, but most days he thought he had a groin pull or strain. Otherwise, he was in great shape, thin and exercised daily (until his hip wouldn't allow it anymore). We thought he would end up at Duke for surgery, but the timetable to get him approved was much too long (they were afraid what was left wouldd simply collapse before they could get to him).

It's weird that it presents as a groin pull. That was exactly the same with me. I was in the kitchen with Liz and, at the time, we had a throw rug in there. As I turned to say something my right toe hung in the rug and I said "ow!" She asked what was wrong and I said that I'd just pulled my groin. When I finally got tired of limping around and went in for x-rays, I didn't have AN, but, starting with the fall 25 years earlier, I'd worn away the cartilage from both the head of my trocantor and also the socket. IOW, it was bone on bone. I had never even had a twinge up to that time. TBF, mine needs revision and the left needs THR also, but I'm putting it off...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Here's a pic of a hip dislocation being reduced. Do you think you'd scream?

 

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

Here's a pic of a hip dislocation being reduced. Do you think you'd scream?

View attachment 4903

I think that would make even the toughest man howl

 

[Chukker Veteran]

Here's a pic of a hip dislocation being reduced. Do you think you'd scream?

View attachment 4903

Takes my breath away.

 

[Krymsonman]

IDK how I missed that. Probably talking. I had told my wife I was afraid it was his hip, from the way they landed on him with his leg drawn up that way, so we had a pretty intense conversation going...

I remember it, as the game had pretty much become secondary to the Tua situation. She did say they kept running them out of the tunnel. They were even putting up screens etc to hide what was going on in the tunnel. Then they went to the split screen for a few minutes, the ambulance on one side and the game on the other. I thought they should have just left Tua alone so the doctors and all could take care of his needs.

 

[CB4]

Here's an article from Forbes which explains the injury in lay terms pretty well. Forbes

Thank you for posting Earle.

In most cases a posterior dislocation of the hip in an athlete comes the exact way it happened with Tua. A player lands with full force, driving the knee into the ground. Coupled with the additional weight of the tacklers, the femoral head has no place to go.

As Coach Saban said, it was kind of a “freak” thing and he is right.. Does it happen? Yes but not to the extent you see with other contact injuries in sports.

Could Tua have been trying to protect the previously injured ankle in landing the way he did? Maybe, but tend to think it just “one of those things that happens”.

 

[CB4]

Here's a pic of a hip dislocation being reduced. Do you think you'd scream?

View attachment 4903

Earle, maybe you can help me out here. I seem to recall when Bo Jackson suffered his dislocation/fracture, the hip actually “popped” back into place spontaneously. I want to say the physicians/team doctors didn’t realize he had actually suffered the dislocation and fracture to his acetabulum for several weeks after the actual injury when the pain persisted.

Is that what you remember or it that just something I’m imagining ?

 

[12Namath12]

Did CJ Mosely have this injury in the National Championship game against LSU?

 

[B1GTide]

Did CJ Mosely have this injury in the National Championship game against LSU?

I don't think that he had a fracture - just a dislocation - but very similar.

ETA - just looked it up. He was back working out in 6 weeks, so no complications at all. That was his sophomore season, and he played 2 more years at Alabama.

How much better would Alabama be if more of its great players stayed for their senior years like they did only 6-7 years ago?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Earle, maybe you can help me out here. I seem to recall when Bo Jackson suffered his dislocation/fracture, the hip actually “popped” back into place spontaneously. I want to say the physicians/team doctors didn’t realize he had actually suffered the dislocation and fracture to his acetabulum for several weeks after the actual injury when the pain persisted.

Is that what you remember or it that just something I’m imagining ?

First, I agree that the injury was not owing to any defensive maneuver. He was running when tackled. The most unnatural thing to do would have been to straighten out both legs and let your face smash into the turf. I probably would have had both legs doubled up, if anything. And, yes, on Bo's injury. The LB came down on top of his back and the severity of the injury didn't become evident until later. In my case, the orthos thought I must have subluxed, since the trocantor fractured the acetabulum on the way out. That was when I had the sharp jab in my butt. However, I was able to limp into the house to stop the hemorrhage between my eyes, so, obviously, it must have self-reduced, if it did sublux. Can you imagine what it took to reduce Tua, when you look at the mass of his glutes and quads??

 

[CB4]

First, I agree that the injury was not owing to any defensive maneuver. He was running when tackled. The most unnatural thing to do would have been to straighten out both legs and let your face smash into the turf. I probably would have had both legs doubled up, if anything. And, yes, on Bo's injury. The LB came down on top of his back and the severity of the injury didn't become evident until later. In my case, the orthos thought I must have subluxed, since the trocantor fractured the acetabulum on the way out. That was when I had the sharp jab in my butt. However, I was able to limp into the house to stop the hemorrhage between my eyes, so, obviously, it must have self-reduced, if it did sublux. Can you imagine what it took to reduce Tua, when you look at the mass of his glutes and quads??

I’ve been in the ER when they’ve reduced John Q. Public and it was gruesome. Can’t imagine what it was like with quads like Tua’s. Also those muscles tend to spasm as the body’s natural protective mechanism, making it even more difficult.

 

[tmv85]

Here's a pic of a hip dislocation being reduced. Do you think you'd scream?

View attachment 4903

Just seeing a picture of this makes me wince.

I have learned more about hip dislocations and fractures in the last 12 hours than I thought I ever would.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I’ve been in the ER when they’ve reduced John Q. Public and it was gruesome. Can’t imagine what it was like with quads like Tua’s. Also those muscles tend to spasm as the body’s natural protective mechanism, making it even more difficult.

When I was kayaking heavy water, there was the occasional shoulder sublux and all of us knew how to reduce it. The problem was the same - you were dealing with a shoulder which was extremely powerful and that was working against you, particularly when in spasm. Sometimes, it took one guy standing with his foot in the armpit and two guys pulling upward on the arm. When I kayaked the Grand Canyon, we ran into a raft with two couples, self-guided. One guy had subluxed on the first day. They had managed to reduce it. Their plan was for him to take it easy for a couple of days and then resume. We were with another couple, within a large group - 25 kayakers and about 12 or so riders on two pontoon rafts. The wife in our couple of friends was an MD. She told the guy the long-term consequences, if he tried to paddle with a raw sublux, mainly a lifetime of subluxes until he had surgery to correct the looseness. I've never seen faces fall so fast. They'd barely started their trip they'd been in the drawings for for many years...

 

[BamaHoHo]

Alabama teammates visit Tua Tagovailoa in hospital

 

[Rush]

Did CJ Mosely have this injury in the National Championship game against LSU?

Courtney Upshaw I believe.

And man it looked gruesome...