With parents who were teachers and six children of his own, Andrew Cappuccino appreciates a teachable moment.
The orthopedic surgeon and spine specialist was thrust into the national spotlight after he helped save the life of former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett this past season.
So when Marshall Brennan, a sixth grader at Emmet Belknap Middle School, wrote him a letter asking some questions about Everett's injury and injury prevention for young athletes, Cappuccino eagerly took the opportunity to speak to him and his classmates.
Thursday morning, the Lockport resident discussed his career, medical care and Everett's health situation with the sixth graders.
"It was the first play of the second half," Cappuccino recalled of the Bills' season opener in September. "And I was on the sidelines eating a hot dog."
"I was frightened to death," he said when asked how he felt when the injury happened. "The trainers came to me and said they thought he had a neck injury. I hear that 10 times a season, but the Bills' medical staff practices for neck injuries, so we went out there and Kevin said he couldn't feel anything below his neck. At first, I felt shock and fear and second I felt a jolt of electricity to do my job and draw upon my knowledge."
Cappuccino was a living, breathing example of the old School House Rock motto, "Knowledge is power."
A native of the New York metro area, he originally wanted to go to culinary school but took a lacrosse scholarship to Johns Hopkins instead where he majored in biomedical engineering. He found engineering to be rather boring when, during his senior year, he worked with an orthopedic surgeon for a project on hip replacements.
That's when he fell in love with medicine and decided to pursue medical school.
But the takeaway message for the students was that learning doesn't stop when your formal education is complete.
"Stabilizing Kevin Everett on the field was the easy part," Cappuccino said. "But then you have to process information, think on your feet and use your resources. That's what education is all about. It's training you to put together facts and come to good conclusions.
"Just because you finish school, that's not a reason to stop learning. The thing I love is spine surgery. For you it might be art or banking or being a chef. You can't stop learning when you've maxed out your education. Your field will always expand and I'm always learning new things, new techniques, new research."
Peppered with questions about Everett, many of which were detailed, Cappuccino spent about an hour with the students.
Where on the neck is worst to have an injury? With seven bones in the neck, Cappuccino explained, the higher up the injury, the more severe the problems. With Everett injuring his third and fourth bones, he had no movement from his neck down.
Will Kevin Everett ever play again? No. Cappuccino said Everett asks him the same question, but the doctor will always refuse to clear him to play. Everett still lacks fine-touch motor skills in his hands and feet and too much damage has occurred to risk further injury.
Can he run? Yes, Everett is now running at slow paces and can play a little basketball and golf. He still cannot lift any weights over his head or do anything that would be a contact sport.
What was the first thing he did in therapy? He underwent swallowing therapy to relearn how to eat.
What was the worst moment for Dr. Cappuccino? Calling Everett's mother and fiancee after the injury to explain the situation. "At that point, I didn't think he'd walk again," Cappuccino said. "I just wanted him to be able to breath on his own."
Cappuccino noted that broken necks are extremely rare and that in Everett's case, he was fortunate to have the injury happen 500 feet away from a spinal surgeon with an ambulance waiting.
Additionally, more sports injuries occur in soccer but football injuries get more attention because they tend to be more catastrophic.
"The best way for young athletes to prevent injury is to avoid things that break down the body like smoking and alcohol at any age," Cappuccino said. "You want to exercise and be aware of your conditioning. You always want avoid leading with your head in collisions and make sure you always wear your protective equipment.
e-mail: amoritz@buffnews.com
