Compartment Syndrome Sidelines Parkview High Football Player
By: Deedra Wilson, KARK 4 News
Updated: October 19, 2012
A Parkview High School football player is out for the season after six surgeries from what he thought was only a muscle spasm.
These days Judge Green trains at Parkview High School in Little Rock with hopes of getting back on the field.
"Well I've been playing football ever since i was a little kid," he says.
Now he can only practice.
Judge says he woke up in the middle of the night with severe cramps he thought were muscle spasms.
"At first I had stitches in on both sides," he says.
After hours went by and his pain worsened, he was rushed to Children's Hospital, where he was told he had compartment syndrome, a condition where the muscle began to spasm, then get really tight in one closed spot, cutting off blood supply to the muscle.
"At first when they told me they may have to cut off my leg, I almost started crying," Judge recalls.
His mother, a biology teacher at Parkview, was shocked.
"I'd never heard of it, so it was scary, 'cause at that point we had to do surgery in 30 minutes." Rachel Green says.
Head football coach William Hardiman says when he got the call, Judge was going to the hospital for severe cramps.
"I was like ooookay! I said, 'Ma'am you sure? Typically you try to drink some fluids,'" Hardiman says.
Now he says coaches need to be educated about the ailment, because normally what they would do for student athletes wouldn't be effective against compartment syndrome.
These days Judge Green trains at Parkview High School in Little Rock with hopes of getting back on the field.
"Well I've been playing football ever since i was a little kid," he says.
Now he can only practice.
Judge says he woke up in the middle of the night with severe cramps he thought were muscle spasms.
"At first I had stitches in on both sides," he says.
After hours went by and his pain worsened, he was rushed to Children's Hospital, where he was told he had compartment syndrome, a condition where the muscle began to spasm, then get really tight in one closed spot, cutting off blood supply to the muscle.
"At first when they told me they may have to cut off my leg, I almost started crying," Judge recalls.
His mother, a biology teacher at Parkview, was shocked.
"I'd never heard of it, so it was scary, 'cause at that point we had to do surgery in 30 minutes." Rachel Green says.
Head football coach William Hardiman says when he got the call, Judge was going to the hospital for severe cramps.
"I was like ooookay! I said, 'Ma'am you sure? Typically you try to drink some fluids,'" Hardiman says.
Now he says coaches need to be educated about the ailment, because normally what they would do for student athletes wouldn't be effective against compartment syndrome.
