US striker Charlie Davies injured in fatal car wreck

[STL FANATIC]

Could be career threatening, but his life seems safe. Sadly the same can't be said for another passenger.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=685080&sec=us&cc=5901

U.S. striker Davies injured in car accident

ESPN.com news services

October 13, 2009

Charlie Davies, a striker for the United States national soccer team, was injured in a one-car accident early Tuesday in suburban Washington, D.C., in which another person was killed, a U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman said.

Davies was in surgery Tuesday afternoon at Washington Hospital Center and in stable condition, U.S. Soccer said in a statement. The extent of his injuries was unknown, but U.S. Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe said they were not life-threatening.

Davies, who also plays for the French first-division club Sochaux, was expected to require more than 5 hours of surgery.

The U.S. national team is in Washington to play a World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica on Wednesday. The team has already qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

"Obviously, as a team we were saddened to learn this news," national team coach Bob Bradley said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Charlie and his family, as well as the people in the car and the families of the others involved. As a team, we are relying on each other in a moment that has for sure hit us all hard."

The accident occurred at about 3:15 a.m. ET Tuesday in the southbound lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Virginia. The U.S. Park Police identified the person who died as Ashley J. Roberta, 22, of Phoenix, Md.

U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said there were three people in the car and that Roberta was not the driver. Davies was also not driving, police told the USSF, according to the Washington Post.

Davies and another passenger were taken to Washington Hospital Center, one by land and one by helicopter, Schlosser said.

"The car was pretty much split in half," Schlosser said, according to the Post.

Born in Manchester, N.H., Davies played for Boston College before turning pro in 2006. Davies has four goals in 17 international appearances and started Saturday when the U.S. won 3-2 at Honduras to clinch its sixth straight World Cup berth. He was a member of last year's American Olympic team.

The U.S. team had an optional breakfast at its hotel Tuesday, and officials were informed of the accident around 11 a.m., just as Davies' surgery was about to begin. Bradley gathered the players before lunch and informed them of the news.

Davies' teammates were not made available for comment, but many in the U.S. soccer community expressed somber thoughts via Twitter.

"Just got some terrible news about my boy. :( I'm done tweeting for the day, too much stuff runnin through my head," tweeted midfielder Maurice Edu, who has played for the U.S. team but is not on the roster for the game in Washington.

"OMG please pray for Charlie Davies and the people involved in the car accident in dc," was the message from Freddy Adu, also a member of the national team's player pool.

"Obviously, the players are saddened by the situation and, obviously, hope the surgery goes well for Charlie and that he has a quick recovery," Buethe said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[MattF]

Get better Charlie

[dfwabel]

Most reports are the same, but here is a pic of the damaged SUV.

[TFoA]

Bad news for Davies, who had such a promising Summer and looked great during World Cup Qualifying, but thank goodness he's going to come out of that alive, forget soccer. Wow. Still, terrible news to hear about the woman that died in the wreck. Just all around terrible news.

Get well soon, Charlie Davies.

[Drew22]

Most reports are the same, but here is a pic of the damaged SUV.

That's insane that anyone could survive that.

[BrySmalls]

Here's a photo of the young woman who died:

[TFoA]

US Soccer news release.

Broken tibia & femur, fractured elbow, & a lacerated bladder. Wow. The crazy thing is, they say he could very well recover & play again later, since he was at such a high physical level. I'm hoping that he can make a full and speedy recovery from this.

[Viper]

If Eduardo could recover from his Theismann-esque leg fracture a couple of seasons ago to play for Arsenal again, Davies can recover from this.

[Puck]

Listening to ESPN about this yesterday, it wasn't a doubt that he would recover from it, but would he recover in time for the World Cup and that's what they were unsure of. At this point, while I'd want Davies on the filed, if he can produce for years to come, I wouldn't rush Davies.

[GFB]

Awesome update on Charlie Davies:

Soccernet's Ives Galarcep has a fantastic update on U.S. national striker Charlie Davies and his freakish recovery from the deadly car accident he was involved in last October. After breaking his right femur and tibia, left elbow, suffering facial fractures and a lacerated bladder (which somehow sounds like the most awful injury of the bunch) in the crash that killed the other passenger in the car that carried him, Davies is already jogging and doing agility drills just four months later.

What does this progress mean, exactly? It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June's World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.

"Charlie is pretty much light years ahead of where anybody would tell you he should be," said Jim Hashimoto, the former U.S. national team trainer who is overseeing Davies rehabilitation. "When everybody heard about the accident, including myself, it was like, 'OK, this is going to be a long one' -- and it's still going to be a long one, but to see his progress is pretty amazing."

And amazing sounds like an understatement. The report goes on to say how Davies has already recovered from all of his broken bones, has gained back the 15 lbs. he lost because of the six surgeries he's had so far and only has one more on his elbow before he plans on returning to Sochaux for training by the end of February. Wow.

Now, broken bones and surgeries are one thing -- lots of people go through that and come back good as new -- but if you're somehow still doubting Davies' resiliency and superhumanness, read this:

The swelling in his face that was so evident during his interview with ESPN last November has subsided, though a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

THE DOCTORS PEELED HIS FACE OFF TO FIX HIS SHATTERED SKULL! That's like Terminator type stuff.

Says Davies himself:

"I know I can come back and be one of the best strikers in the world. I know with the improvement that I'm making, if I can continue that with this new feeling I have now, it's going to be tough to stop me."

Yeah, he's definitely a Terminator.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/Charlie-Davies-is-an-unstoppable-force-with-supe?urn=sow,215654

[Don]

Its amazing, I read this last night on the Fanhouse. He has the will to play in the World Cup and wont take no for an answer. Hells yeah. I think when the new US kit comes out itll be a Davies for me!

[MattF]

I think when the new US kit comes out itll be a Davies for me!

Same here, Davies was becoming one of my favroite USMNT players before the crash, but now he might be my favorite player in the world. This is some superhuman stuff.

[Mingjai]

Awesome update on Charlie Davies:

Soccernet's Ives Galarcep has a fantastic update on U.S. national striker Charlie Davies and his freakish recovery from the deadly car accident he was involved in last October. After breaking his right femur and tibia, left elbow, suffering facial fractures and a lacerated bladder (which somehow sounds like the most awful injury of the bunch) in the crash that killed the other passenger in the car that carried him, Davies is already jogging and doing agility drills just four months later.

What does this progress mean, exactly? It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June's World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.

"Charlie is pretty much light years ahead of where anybody would tell you he should be," said Jim Hashimoto, the former U.S. national team trainer who is overseeing Davies rehabilitation. "When everybody heard about the accident, including myself, it was like, 'OK, this is going to be a long one' -- and it's still going to be a long one, but to see his progress is pretty amazing."

And amazing sounds like an understatement. The report goes on to say how Davies has already recovered from all of his broken bones, has gained back the 15 lbs. he lost because of the six surgeries he's had so far and only has one more on his elbow before he plans on returning to Sochaux for training by the end of February. Wow.

Now, broken bones and surgeries are one thing -- lots of people go through that and come back good as new -- but if you're somehow still doubting Davies' resiliency and superhumanness, read this:

The swelling in his face that was so evident during his interview with ESPN last November has subsided, though a shorter haircut reveals the scar he has from ear to ear arcing over the top of his skull. That scar came after doctors peeled his face off down to his chin in order to repair the multiple fractures that left his facial bones a shattered mess.

THE DOCTORS PEELED HIS FACE OFF TO FIX HIS SHATTERED SKULL! That's like Terminator type stuff.

Says Davies himself:

"I know I can come back and be one of the best strikers in the world. I know with the improvement that I'm making, if I can continue that with this new feeling I have now, it's going to be tough to stop me."

Yeah, he's definitely a Terminator.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/Charlie-Davies-is-an-unstoppable-force-with-supe?urn=sow,215654

Great news indeed!

I'm sure many here already know this, but Ives Galarcep's blog is one of the best places to get information about American soccer. He was voted US Soccer's blog of the year in 2008 and 2009.

http://www.soccerbyives.net

Here are some of Ives's updates this week about Davies and Onyewu.

Davies making a miraculous recovery

More on Davies and his road to recovery (UPDATED)

Onyewu closing in on return to Milan