Paraguay soccer player who was shot in head in Mexico City bar last month moved out of ICU
By APWednesday, February 17, 2010
Soccer player who was shot in head out of ICU
MEXICO CITY — Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas is being moved out of intensive care as he continues his remarkable recovery after being shot in the head in a Mexico City bar last month.
The doctor who has cared for the player since he was shot at point-blank range on Jan. 25 said Wednesday that Cabanas, who plays for Mexican club America, would be moved to a private room at Mexico City’s Angeles del Pedregal Hospital.
“His movements are more agile with no problems, and all of his medicines are being taken by mouth,” Dr. Ernesto Martinez said. “He’s eating normally. He has much more strength … He speaks when he wants, with whom he wants. He’s progressing very satisfactorily.”
Martinez said it was impossible to know the long-term effects of the shooting. Hours after the attack, surgeons decided against removing the bullet fragment, saying surgery was too dangerous.
Cabanas is still not permitted to walk amid fears such activity might increase the pressure around his brain, added Martinez, who has not ruled out the 29-year-old returning to play soccer.
Cabanas had been expected to lead Paraguay’s team at this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
The main suspect in the shooting case, Jose Jorge Balderas, is still at large. The Mexico City attorney general’s office has said it will ask Interpol, the international police agency, for help in tracking down Balderas.
