‘Way ahead of expectations’
Injured Feehan hockey player
is recovering well in Atlanta
ATTLEBORO — The family of Bishop Feehan High hockey player A.J. Quetta, who suffered a spinal injury during a game in January, says he’s progressing “ahead of expectations” and is in line for experimental treatments later this year.
Quetta, 18, a senior forward for the Shamrocks, suffered the injury in a game in West Springfield.
Since then, the North Providence native has undergone surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and is currently undergoing treatment at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord treatment.
In an update posted to the Instagram page for AJ’s Army – the group that has sprung up to support the Quetta family – Anthony Quetta Sr. said that his son is slowly being weaned off the ventilator he has had to use since the injury and is exercising three to four hours a day.
Getting off the ventilator “is a huge step in his recovery and AJ is way ahead of expectations,” he wrote.
“Things are really starting to move in the right direction,” Anthony Quetta said in the post on Tuesday night.
“It has been the worst of times, and thanks to you all, the most blessed of times,” the father said. “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we know we cannot do it alone.”
A.J. Quetta is expected to be transferred from Atlanta to Journey Forward in Canton by the end of May and will continue his rehabilitation there until July.
After that, his father said, he will be a candidate for the Miami Project, where the family will be taking a virtual tour in the coming weeks and where Quetta will undergo experimental treatment and trials aimed at restoring his spinal cord function.
“The target date to go to Miami is 6 months from the injury date at the end of July,” his father said.
A GoFundMe campaign that was set up to aid the family has now topped $1 million. Local foundations, sports organizations and numerous groups have also raised funds to support Quetta’s treatment.