Lavoie ‘glad’ Hefney better
Alouette has nerve injury
Patrick Lavoie used the word “glad,” not “relieved,” but he surely seemed both. The Ottawa Redblacks fullback said he hadn’t yet spoken with Jonathan Hefney, but was encouraged by a second-hand update on the condition of the Montreal Alouettes cornerback with whom Lavoie collided head-on during Thursday’s Canadian Football League game at TD Place stadium.
Lavoie said Redblacks cornerback Jovon Johnson, Hefney’s roommate during their time together as Winnipeg Blue Bombers, had visited Hefney at an Ottawa hospital on Friday.
“He was way better,” Lavoie said Sunday following Redblacks practice at the Mont-Bleu sports complex in Gatineau. “It was more like a shoulder, pinched nerve, that’s what (Johnson) told me. A little bit of concussion, but not too bad. The night of the game, he was walking.
“I didn’t realize on the play how that happened. I had to watch the replay. I’m just glad he’s all right now.”
Hefney isn’t totally out of the woods. The Alouettes announced Saturday evening that the 30-year-old South Carolina native had been re-examined Friday in Montreal and had been diagnosed with a severe complex nerve injury to the neck and would be evaluated further by specialists on Monday.
“The remainder of the 2015 season is more than likely compromised,” an Alouettes media release said.
It had been an accidental helmet-on-helmet blow after Lavoie and Hefney simultaneously lowered their shoulders to prepare for contact. Hefney was unconscious before he fell to the turf, but Lavoie powered ahead for a four-yard gain before he was tackled by Winston Venable.
Lavoie said he was still pumped up emotionally when he stood up, happy to have overcome a heavy hit to produce positive yards for his team. Then he saw Hefney on the turf, not moving, and the Alouette lay there for more than eight minutes before he was removed on a stretcher.
“I caught the ball and I saw wrong colour ( jersey),” said Lavoie. “I just protected myself. Boom! After I realized I’m still up and I can go forward.
“After that, am I good (physically)? Yeah, I’m feeling good. No headache, nothing in the neck, nothing.”