Paralyzed Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi he "had the fear of death" while lying on the field after being paralyzed in a collision in a game against Army on Oct. 16. The LeGrand interview aired on ESPN's 'Sportscenter' this morning, and can be seen in its entirety on scarletknights.com.
↵"I believe that I will walk one day," are the first words you hear LeGrand speak during the interview at the Kessler Institute in West Orange, N.J., where LeGrand is in rehabilitation. "God has a plan for me, and I know it's not to be sitting here all the time."
↵Both LeGrand and his mother, Karen, knew something was wrong as soon as LeGrand hit the ground. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano also knew LeGrand could be in serious trouble.
↵"I just knew something was wrong," Schiano said. "On my way out there I was just quickly thinking 'please let him be knocked out, Lord.' You could see he wasn't moving, and I knew it wasn't good."
↵LeGrand could not breathe. "I was like, could I pass out and die here," he said. "I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't move."
↵LeGrand fractured his C3 and C4 vertebrae. He can breathe on his own, and his mother says he has sensation is his shoulders, arms, hands and even his feet. "He has sensation everywhere," Karen LeGrand said.
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↵For information on the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund, please visit ScarletKnights.com/Believe.