Tommy Update 9/23/09

Dear Family and Friends,

4 months ago today Tommy's accident occurred. I have attached a recent photo of Tom, his lacrosse jersey that was cut off in the ER hangs above his head! Thank you for all your continued support. We read every text, email, letter etc. Tommy is taking one day at a time in the halo. He is quite sedentary due to halo pin issues. A lot of you ask "How does he sleep?" He has a hospital bed which allows him to recline to a (somewhat) comfortable level. He has another 2-3 weeks left until the next CT scan to evaluate the healing progress. We are hoping for more good news.

We are moving forward on building a foundation to help other injured athletes. "Advocates for Injured Athletes " inspired by Tommy Mallon will be launched on Oct. 24th. more details to follow.

We have met and /or spoken with many professional, very special people over the last 4 months. I have been in touch with Steve Stenersen , the CEO of US Lacrosse and Eve Becker- Doyle CEO of National Athletic Trainers Assoc. Both individuals were genuinely interested in Tommy. Whenever there is an injury of this magnitude hopefully something good can be learned by the process. My mission is to spread the word about Rikki's role in saving Tommy's life and saving his neurological function by immobilizing him. We are hoping his injury and the immediate treatment he received will shed light on the importance of having a qualified,confident athletic trainer on the field.