West Ham Defender Danny Potts Stretchered off After Scary Collision
During West Ham's match with Arsenal on Wednesday, defender Danny Potts suffered a scary collision and was taken off the field on a stretcher after several minutes on the ground.
UPDATE: Thursday, Jan. 24, at 2:56 p.m. ET by Brandon Galvin
Encouraging news for Danny Potts as he has been cleared to return home after being sent to the hospital following a scary collision in yesterday's match, according to Sky Sports' Staff.
"West Ham have announced that defender Dan Potts has left hospital after suffering a head injury during the defeat at Arsenal on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old left-back was briefly knocked out when he collided with Bacary Sagna and he was attended to on the field for 10 minutes before being stretchered off.
Potts spent the night in hospital before undergoing a series of scans and tests, which thankfully did not reveal any serious problems.
A statement on the West Ham statement read: 'We can confirm that Dan Potts has now left hospital and will be spending the next few days resting.'
The young defender said: 'A big thank you to everyone for their support and messages. Hopefully I am looking forward to feeling better over the next few days.'
"
---End of update---
UPDATE: Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 5:27 p.m. ET by Tim Keeney
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce provided this dreary update regarding Potts (via BBC Sport):
"West Ham boss Sam Allardyce on Dan Potts: "He is not good, he has been taken to hospital. Hopefully it is just concussion." #bbcfootball
โ BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 23, 2013"
---End of update---
The news comes via the London Evening Standard's James Olley:
"Daniel Potts down after an unfortunate collision. Doesn't look good - appears from here as though he is being given oxygen. #whufc
โ James Olley (@JamesOlley) January 23, 2013"
According to Olley, Potts was stretchered off to applause from the crowd at the Emirates, but it didn't appear as though the young man had moved since crashing to the ground.
After he was taken off, there were 12 minutes of extra time added on, which goes to show you how long the medical staff tended to the budding star.ย
The No. 1 hope here is obviously that Potts is OK.ย
This is an incredibly scary injury that you never want to see happen to anyone, but for an 18-year-old with a promising future, it's all the more devastating.ย
However, after Potts had left the stadium, FOX Soccer (via Twitter) came through with some encouraging news when it reported that Potts regained consciousness on the way to the hospital:
"UPDATE: FOX Soccer is reporting that Potts has regained consciousness. We'll keep you posted.
โ FOX Soccer Trax (@FOXSoccerTrax) January 23, 2013"
While that is certainly a very promising development, Potts isn't exactly out of the woods yet. Whenever a player is carried off on a stretcher, there is always concern about a potential injury to the back or neck.
For now, until we know more, we'll hope that the stretcher was just a precaution and pray for Potts to make a full, quick recovery.
