
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991                   TAG: 9104180207
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SHOEMAKER LIKELY TO STAY PARALYZED

Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker is unlikely to recover from nearly total paralysis suffered when he broke his neck and injured his spinal cord in an automobile accident, medical officials said in Inglewood, Calif.

Shoemaker will be transferred to a hospital in Denver next week.

Shoemaker had a blood-alcohol level of .13 when his vehicle flipped down a freeway embankment on April 8.

"He suffered a severe fracture dislocation of the cervical spine and a spinal cord injury," the hospital statement said. "The studies show evidence of severe spinal cord disruption. He has no motion or sensation below his upper chest and shoulders."

Dr. Robert Watkins of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, who issued the statement, said Shoemaker was able to do no more than shrug his shoulders. Watkins said Shoemaker was alert and aware of his condition.

Keywords:
HORSE RACING

by CNB