{"id":28596,"date":"2017-07-13T18:15:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T01:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/?p=28596"},"modified":"2017-07-13T18:15:21","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T01:15:21","slug":"toronto-fcs-steven-beitashour-recalls-anxious-moments-in-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persianfootball.com\/news\/2017\/07\/13\/toronto-fcs-steven-beitashour-recalls-anxious-moments-in-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto FC’s Steven Beitashour recalls anxious moments in hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Post – TORONTO, Fullback Steven Beitashour knew something was very wrong when he couldn\u2019t sleep following Toronto FC\u2019s victory over Montreal in the Canadian Championship final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lying in bed. Sitting on the couch. The pain was too much no matter what position he tried in the wake of a violent collision with Impact defender Kyle Fisher just before halftime June 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get one second of sleep that night,\u201d Beitashour said in an interview Thursday.<\/p>\n

The morning after the game, Beitashour went in early to the TFC training centre where team officials immediately ordered him to the emergency room. Amazingly he drove himself the 17.5 kilometres to Mount Sinai Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was bad because every bump in the road, it felt like I was being stabbed in my stomach,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt was extremely painful just driving in. Even driving to the hospital, I got nauseous and ended up vomiting. So I know it was pretty serious when that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old Beitashour, who finished out the game against Montreal, is one tough hombre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figure I can (finish) the game, I can drive myself,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

At the hospital, after a bevy of tests and consultations with doctors, he was diagnosed with a lacerated pancreas \u2014 an injury more often seen in car crashes or stabbings. The laceration resulted in toxins excreting into his body.<\/p>\n

The pancreas is a long flattened gland located deep in the abdomen. It produces enzymes to help with food digestion and regulates blood sugar.<\/p>\n

It was such an unusual sports injury that doctors jokingly referred to him as \u201cpatient zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t see it in any other sport,\u201d Beitashour said. \u201cIt\u2019s such an uncommon injury because the pancreas is so far back. There\u2019s other things that can get damaged before that. So the fact that I didn\u2019t have broken ribs and that nothing else was damaged, it\u2019s kind of crazy to think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a sports highlights show, the doctors went to the video to see what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were pretty shocked I finished the game, to say the least,\u201d Beitashour said.<\/p>\n

There were some scary moments for both Beitashour and his wife as the doctors worked their way from discussing taking out part of his pancreas and spleen out through to the eventual diagnosis.<\/p>\n

He had surgery that night and remains full of gratitude for the medical team that worked on him.<\/p>\n

He was in hospital for six days and still has tubes in his side to help drain the wound.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still in the beginning steps. We\u2019re just trying to see if it\u2019ll heal on its own and we\u2019re kind of going day to day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tubes are checked every other day and he is slated to see his doctor on Monday, when the tubes could be removed if the wound is determined to have drained completely.<\/p>\n

The good news is Beitashour is young and in peak physical condition. Still, there is no timeline on his return to action.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully I\u2019ll be back on the field shortly, but right now my main concern is just for my pancreas to heal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beitashour was hurt in first-half stoppage time when Fisher mistimed a challenge from distance and thudded into him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurt,\u201d Beitashour said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t breathe, that was the scary part.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scare dissipated slightly when he got his breath back but he knew it was not the ordinary having the wind knocked out of you. The trainers looked him over and Beitashour said everything checked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like \u2018OK I can play. it\u2019s a little bit painful but it\u2019s nothing too crazy.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

During halftime, he was examined further as his teammates met with the coaches<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t have X-ray vision, they don\u2019t have MRI-vision,\u201d Beitashour said of the team\u2019s training and medical staff. \u201cThey can\u2019t see inside my stomach to know that anything serious is up. I don\u2019t blame them at all. There\u2019s no way of knowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people gave them a little bit of flak for putting me back it in but it\u2019s their judgment and my judgment together. Physically nothing was broken \u2026 Obviously I had discomfort but knowing that nothing was broken, I thought I could get through (the game).\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrenalin kicked in and he finished the championship match. And when Sebastian Giovinco scored the winning goal in stoppage time, Beitashour jumped over the advertising boarding like a champion hurdler to celebrate with teammates and fans.<\/p>\n

Fisher, who was yellow-carded for the collision, sought out Beitashour immediately after the game to apologize and to see he was OK. The Impact player contacted him again via text once he found out about the surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciated that, that he did reach out,\u201d said Beitashour.<\/p>\n

Beitashour, a California native who plays internationally for Iran where is parents were born, has been a fixture at right fullback\/wingback since joining Toronto from Vancouver prior to the 2016 season.<\/p>\n

Rookie Oyvind Alseth started the last two games in Beitashour\u2019s absence, garnering generally positive reviews in his MLS debut.<\/p>\n

Toronto signed 26-year-old Liechtenstein international Nicolas Hasler on Thursday to fill the gap at right back. Brazilian under-20 fullback Raul is on trial with the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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