Here’s a horrifying story with a relatively happy ending: Georgia sprinter Elija Godwin, one of the fastest freshmen in the country, accidentally impaled himself on a javelin while running a backwards sprint drill on Tuesday afternoon. Incredibly, Godwin survived.
WXIA in Atlanta has the graphic report on what happened:
According to police reports, the javelin was sticking out of the field at an angle. It went through Elija’s back. He immediately went down and his teammates packed the area with gauze until he could be rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery.
The javelin reportedly went straight through Godwin’s body and punctured his lung.
Medical personnel had to saw off the piece sticking out of his back to get him into the ambulance, but the front piece of the javelin was still in his chest.
Godwin’s mother said that her son suffered a collapsed lung, but he made it through surgery, and now he’s off oxygen and is breathing on his own. Godwin is expected to make a full recovery, and may even be back to competing next season.
h/t Ben