Sports are one of the most important facets of a lot of people’s lives, but there are some things that are simply bigger than the game – Houston knows this all too well. The city, who is coming off their first ever World Series title, dealt with the destruction and devastation Hurricane Harvey last year.

Upon winning their first title, the Houston Astros received a devastating blow during the team’s victory parade on November 2. First-base coach Rich Dauer, a former player who played 10-years in the Baltimore Orioles franchise, became very wobbly, telling members of the team that he didn’t feel too good. What was originally thought to be dehydration, Dauer’s situation was about to become drastically worse.

As it turns out, Dauer had slipped on a wet floor the night before, hitting the right side of his head. At the time it didn’t seem like much of an issue beyond a little bump, and he didn’t feel any pain or have any reason to be concerned when he woke up the next day to go to the parade. When things started going south during the parade, it quickly became clear that Dauer’s bumped head was much, much worse.

He was diagnosed with an acute subdural hematoma. To those non-doctors out there, this means he had suffered a blood clot in his brain as a result of the slip. Surgeons immediately went to operate on Dauer, but it was considered a losing battle.

According to The Athletic,  doctors informed Dauer’s wife that he had just a 3% chance of living. Team physician Dr. James Muntz, who specializes in internal bleeding, explained Dauer’s condition. “He was unresponsive, just a disaster.” Neurosurgeon David Cech described Dauer, who was in a coma just before the three-hour surgery began, as “almost brain dead.”

Once surgery was finished, there was no telling the extent of how damaged his brain was. When Dauer awoke, the results were even better than expected.

Within two weeks, Dauer was leaving the hospital with close to no effects. He has since explained that he has perfect balance, speech, and memory – all of which were in jeopardy during the early November fiasco. On Monday, Dauer made his emotional return to Houston to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

 

Dauer had already announced his retirement ahead of the incident, so he will not be making a return to his first-base coaching spot.

(H/T The Athletic)