The O’Collegian

Artrell Woods knew he needed to get up.

He didn’t know he was paralyzed.

Not until teammates and coaches tried to help him off the floor July 13.

Woods entered the team weight room that day for a routine workout having all but solidified a prominent role in the offense for the season opener at Georgia.

Woods was the standout of the 2007 spring game two months earlier with 111 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He looked like a viable candidate to play opposite All-American wideout Adarius Bowman in the Cowboy’s high-powered offense.

Woods was a regular participant in the voluntary offseason workouts, and there was no reason to believe that day would be any different.

Woods finished a routine exercise and began walking to set the weight down.

That was when his nightmare started.

Woods tweaked his ankle and lost his balance, collapsing to the floor, and the 185 pounds he was carrying across his shoulders fell on top of him.

The weight dislocated his spine.

“The first thing that went through my mind was, ‘I have to get up, I just have to,’” Woods said. “Someone came over and tried to help me up and my back wouldn’t let me move, so they left me on the ground. I immediately had no feeling in my legs.

“Immediately when they tried to help me, I knew something was seriously wrong.”

He was paralyzed.

A helicopter took Woods to Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City and he underwent a three-hour emergency surgery.

Dr. Tom Schnebel, the team physician at the University of Oklahoma, successfully repaired the damage to his spine.

After surgery, all signs immediately pointed in an encouraging direction after Woods’ spine responded positively to the fusion surgery administered to repair the two dislocated vertebrae in his spinal column.

When Woods came to, his future as a football player was not in the discussion.

Whether he would be able to walk again was.

“At first, the doctors didn’t think I would ever walk again, period,” Woods said. “They weren’t even thinking about me playing again.

“They were just trying to get me moving.”

Woods was able to move again, wiggling his toes the morning after surgery. His mother, Felicia Lewis, sat by his side, visibly shaken after the events of the previous 24 hours.

“I freaked out,” Lewis said. “I was paranoid. I was immediately in a car ready to go to Oklahoma City.”

Despite all the positive signs immediately after his surgery, Woods knew he had a lot of work to do if he was to make a comeback.

“It was tough to get up, and even tougher to start walking again,” Woods said. “I had serious doubts that I would ever be able to play again.

“I was more motivated than anything else to be able to play again.”

During Woods’ time in the hospital, he received an outpouring of support from the OSU family as well as notes and gifts of encouragement from around the country.

“The school did a very good job supporting Artrell after the surgery,” Lewis said. “Fans, coaches, teammates and different colleges sending their blessings and cards.”

Woods said the level of support he received was a motivating factor in his recovery.

“I got tremendous support,” Woods said. “Nurses would walk in with a stack of e-mails from people from all over the place, not just Oklahoma. People from OU, Georgia, Texas, wherever, just everybody.”

The University of Georgia football team and coach Mark Richt sent Woods an autographed football and the players and coaches sent their best wishes. That gift meant a lot to Woods.

“They were so nice to me; I still have that football,” Woods said. “It’s like a showcase thing for me.

“It just meant the world to me.”

Woods spent 12 days in the hospital, walking on day 11.

Woods’ motivation to play football again was made evident immediately when he entered a strenuous rehabilitation program with head athletic trainer Rob Hunt.

“For rehab, they had me doing lots of stuff to get strength back in my right leg, mainly because it was my weaker leg,” Woods said. “It had more paralysis than the other one, so every day it was just doing a lot of exercises with my right leg.

“I felt like it was all more than I could handle sometimes; I just knew I had to keep fighting through it to make a way for a comeback.”

Working on Woods’ lower body strength was paramount in assisting in his recovery. He spent the first three months wearing a brace that immobilized any movement in his spine, which allowed for focused exercises to rebuild strength in his legs.

“He has had a systematic rehabilitation in that we have taken it step by step,” Hunt said. “Just getting in and out of a car was tough early on. Taking a shower was tiring. Daily activities were a tough part of his recovery. He walked in our rehabilitation pool and over time slowly improved his strength in conjunction with his rehabilitation exercises for the lower extremity strength loss. Once the brace was removed, we were able to address the trunk and abdominal weakness he suffered from the use of the brace. He continued lower extremity strengthening as he added core exercises to stabilize and strengthen his back.”

Woods was gradually allowed to add weight room exercise throughout this process, and he was cleared to begin running again in January.

He said that it was not always easy, but he tried to keep his priorities in the right place with his goal of playing coming to the forefront when he had doubts.

“His attitude towards the whole situation was good,” Lewis said. “It wasn’t always easy for him; he had some good days and some bad. He didn’t have a problem with it; it’s what he wanted to do.

“Even when he got frustrated, he never wanted to give up. He gave it 100 percent the whole way.”

The support of his family and friends proved to be one of the key factors in Woods drive to come back from his injury.

“My mom and my family were always there for me through it all,” Woods said. “It just kept pushing me forward, and Rob was there for me with everything personally for me, too, to get me in a position where I had a chance to play again.”

Woods’ mother said she supports his decision to play again, and it was something he had to do to get over the injury.

“It was 100 percent his decision to play again,” Lewis said. “God is going to take care of him. He loves the game of football. He’s loved it since he was 4 years old.

“Football means everything to him. Nothing was going to keep him off that field.”

Nearly seven months after the accident, part of Woods’ dream was made true in January when he was cleared to participate in noncontact drills for spring football.

“I felt like I was finally getting my life back,” Woods said. “I just got the feeling that everything was gonna be all right and things were just coming back together for me.”

Woods said he is no longer doing rehabilitation. He is lifting with the team again and is back in the flow of normal football activities.

“Artrell is doing very well at this point in his recovery,” Hunt said. “He has excellent strength in his lower extremity and normal mobility in his back for the injury he suffered.”

Hunt said he is confident that, with additional work this summer to regain speed, Woods can put himself in a position to compete for a position.

“Artrell has always been a fierce worker, and I would expect nothing less from him at this point,” Hunt said.

Woods’ road to recovery is not over and he is aware of what he needs to do to get back on the field before practice starts in the fall.

“I still have some work to do,” Woods said. “I’m not the same player I was before I got hurt. It would be pretty obvious if people were out there watching me.

“I’m almost there, though, almost there.”

He has been given a green jersey to keep from getting hit in practice, and team doctors are confident he will be ready for the season opener against Washington State on Aug. 30 in Seattle.

“Artie’s running like he was a year ago,” coach Mike Gundy said. “He’s doing everything but getting hit. We haven’t timed him yet, but he runs fast.

“He will be able to be cut loose in August; hypothetically, if we had drills in June, he could go full speed then.”

Woods is scheduled to receive medical clearance to participate in contact activities this summer, nearly one year after his accident.

“I’m ready to get going,” Woods said. “I just want to get back on the field. I’m not even worried about getting hit. It’s football, it happens.”

Coaches and players have expressed their support for Woods throughout this trying period, and they are eager to see him play, as well.

“It’s huge to have him again,” quarterback Zac Robinson said. “We’re excited to have him back. It’s an unbelievable story to come back from that type of injury.”

The first time Cowboy fans will see Woods will be the home opener at Boone Pickens Stadium on Sept. 6 against Houston.

Woods hopes that will be a big day for him.

“[If I score a touchdown] I hope everybody goes crazy, and I hope the stands are full when I do it, too,” Woods said.

The Woods family, as well as the OSU family, is excited to see him play again, not only to see him triumph over such a severe injury but also to watch him overcome a painful and trying time in his life.

“I am very excited to see him play again,” Lewis said. “I just want him to pick up where he left off; like nothing ever happened.”

Woods said one thing is for sure about his trying experience: he is closer to everyone around him, and he and his family are confident in his decision to attend OSU.

“At first I wanted him to go to [Texas] A&M because it is so close to home, but now I have zero regrets about his decision,” Lewis said. “I love him at OSU. I love the people, coaches, players, teachers and supporters who visited him every day and still support him. It has been just an unbelievable support system for Artrell after his injury.

“It is very comforting to know, as a parent, just how much they all care about him in Oklahoma.”See JUMP Page 7