Contreras
Responds to Mention of Hero Did the mention of an injured boy’s hero provoke a physical response that suggests some improvement? At least two people believe so. Michigan Boxing Commission chairman Al Low visited injured amateur boxer Juan Contreras on Wednesday and may have witnessed the youth’s first dramatic, intentional movement since falling into a coma more than two months earlier.
Low,
who said he was drawn to the Crown Boxing Club fighter after reading
about his accident, visited the boy at Mott Childrens Hospital,
part of the University of Michigan Hospital, in Ann Arbor, earlier
this week.
According to Low, he spoke to Juan for twenty minutes alone, after a nurse suggested that comatose patients can still hear. Rosemary Contreras, Juan’s mother, returned to the sixth floor room and she and the chairman talked briefly. Low asked Rosemary who Juan’s favorite boxer is and she told him “Oscar De La Hoya.” When Low turned to Juan and said that he knew the famed boxer and that De La Hoya was a good man, Juan leaned forward a foot or so in his wheelchair. A shocked Rosemary commented that Juan had not “moved” since his March 15 ring accident. Low told Juan that he believed he could arrange for De La Hoya to speak with him but that the world champion would want to know if the youth could make a fist, at which time Juan reportedly raised both arms while making a fist. Low decided to try again. He told Juan that “Oscar” would want to know how strong he is and asked Juan to squeeze his hand, which the 12-year old did. Low then removed the boy’s grip – which he described as strong like a man – from his own hand and placed it onto the hand of the boy’s mother. Her reaction, in part, was to call her husband with the good news, and to excitedly tell the nurses. Low described Juan’s actions as something he will never forget. Juan’s
mother confirms the incident, believing that the mention of the
boxer’s hero drew a conscious response from her son. The first
sign that perhaps the young boy who always used to have a smile
on his face, will someday smile again. |
