Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309240025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But Pribila, a senior, doesn't wear the shield to make him look tougher or throw off opposing offenses. He wears it because he can't afford another accident like the one his sophomore year that nearly stole the vision in his right eye. Pribila suffered a torn retina, crushed lens and lacerated tear duct when he was poked in the eye by an opposing lineman seven games into the 1991 season. The Keydets were playing The Citadel in the Oyster Bowl at Norfolk.
"I didn't think it was that bad. I've gotten plenty of fingers put in my eyes," Pribila said. "I came out and they took me to the hospital. It was bleeding and closed shut. I couldn't open it."
Pribila's parents, Wendell and Juliana, were contacted at their home in Titusville, N.J. After hearing the extent of the injury, Juliana, a nurse of 25 years, recommended Pribila be taken to the renowned Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.
"The residents in Norfolk asked if they could do exploratory surgery," Wendell Pribila said. "We said, `No, if he's able to travel, we would like him taken to Wills.' He was released to his girlfriend's sister, and she and Eugene's girlfriend drove all night to Philadelphia."
While at Wills, doctors repaired Pribila's retina, which was 70 percent severed, and reconstructed the tear duct in his eye. The two-day stay cost nearly $30,000.
When the season ends, Pribila plans to return to Wills to have an artificial lens surgically implanted that will replace the contact lens he wears now.
Pribila withdrew from classes that semester and returned home to New Jersey to recuperate.
"The first couple of days, he couldn't lift five pounds," Wendell Pribila said. "It was strange, here's this big guy and he couldn't lift anything."
Pribila's contact lens allows him to see at almost 100 percent and continue to play football. He started all 11 games last season as a junior and was second among lineman in tackles with 50, including 23 solos.
Pribila gained 20 pounds in the off-season and returned as the most experienced member of the Keydets' defensive line. But a sore left ankle, injured in preseason, has kept him on the bench this season.
Pribila said he will make his 1993 debut Saturday when the NCAA Division I-AA Keydets travel to West Point, N.Y., to play Division I-A Army.
"I don't know if I'll start or not," Pribila said. "But I'm going to play.
"It's a big game. . . . A lot of the seniors are excited because we went up there when we were rats [1990] and they pretty much handed it to us."
It was the last time the two teams have met and Army, 10-1 in the series, won 41-17. Approximately 30,000 fans are expected Saturday, including some Pribila rooters.
Wendell Pribila is renting a bus to bring about 50 family and friends on the 2 1/2 hour trip from Titusville, which is just north of Trenton.
"It's a lot easier to have everyone together," Wendell Pribila said. "Plus, it's more of a communal, party atmosphere. We've got food being catered and a tailgate spot already assigned to us. And more VMI alumni are going to meet us there. It's going to be really nice."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB