MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A Minnesota high school football player was in serious condition after being injured in a game and undergoing emergency brain surgery, medical officials said.
Luke Nelson, 16, a junior linebacker with the Dassel-Cokato high school team, was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis Friday after collapsing on the field during a game in Cokato, Minn., The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported.
An Internet post by his parents, Greg and Sara Nelson, indicated surgeons removed half of the teen's skull to relieve swelling in his brain, and he had been put on a ventilator.
The Nelsons said Luke was awake and alert and was joking with doctors, with his condition markedly improved Sunday.
Jeff Weiland, football coach of the opposing Orono, Minn., High School, team, told the newspaper his review of the game films showed Nelson was likely hurt on a play when an Orono running back's thigh struck him in the helmet.
Nelson remained in the game for a few plays after the incident, then collapsed and fell into seizures.
He was taken to a hospital in Litchfield, Minn., before being airlifted to the Minneapolis facility for emergency surgery early Saturday.
