BRAINERD, Minn. — A Brainerd football player is hospitalized in Fargo after suffering a serious head injury in a game last Friday evening.
His CaringBridge site says senior linebacker and team captain Conner Erickson collapsed on the sidelines Sept. 9 as the Warriors took on the Moorhead Spuds. He was rushed to nearby Sanford Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency three-hour surgery on his head and brain.
Conner’s sedation level was lowered Monday, and his family believes he was able to hear them, according to a post from his aunt Brianna Erickson. "He showed purposeful movement with his left arm and left leg. He then began getting agitated so they increased sedation again," his aunt wrote. "His body is being cooled to stay between 95-97 degrees so that it can heal. Tonight and tomorrow morning should be the peak of his swelling and is a very critical time for him."
In an earlier CaringBridge post Erickson said there was not a specific play where the injury seemed to occur. "At some point, the layer between the brain and skull, “the dura," began to ooze blood," she shared in the post. "To relieve pressure on the brain, Conner had a piece of skull (about the size of your hand) removed from the left side of his head in a three-hour long surgery Friday night into Saturday morning."
While there are many unknowns in Conner's long-term recovery, Conner's aunt leaned towards optimism while describing the road ahead.
"There are a lot of good things that are in Conner’s favor; the fact that he was minutes from the Sanford Hospital in Fargo is the biggest. He was able to be seen by and have surgery with a world-class neurosurgeon promptly upon his arrival. The care he is now receiving is second to none. His age and being a strong, tough, resilient kid are very important factors in his recovery as well. While under sedation, Conner has been moving his extremities which is a very promising sign at this point."
A GoFundMe account set up to help Conner's family with medical bills is at $50,000 and growing. His family said in a statement they are appreciative of all the support they've received from the community, calling the amount of love and generosity in the response "incredible."
Erickson's injury is the second traumatic incident in the last two weeks for Minnesota's high school football community. On Sept. 2, Bloomington Jefferson freshman Ethan Glynn suffered an injury to his neck and spine that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.
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