View Full Version : Karl Watsons brain tumor, and blessing in disguise


johnny16tx
05-27-2009, 12:20 AM
I'm sure everything has heard about the karl watson incident from this years tampa pro contest..
Well after being hit in the face "by accident" karl was sent to the hospital, luckily he didn't need surgery, but the results of a cat scan were a blessing in disguise

http://www.fuel.tv/PoolSnob/blogs/view/7247?item=46318&type=Blog


Huh? What good could come of a skate to the face? Here’s the story:

Rewind to Tampa Pro. Organika pro Karl Watson (pictured above, with ice pack) is warming up, taking some practice runs. “It was about a minute before my heat was going to get started,” he remembers. “I was pumped.”

Watson charges up the vert wall to do a pivot fakie. Too bad Pete Eldridge and Chico Brenes are flying in the same airspace. The ensuing pileup sends the edge of Chico’s board into Watson’s face.

“It hit me on the right side, right under my eye socket,” Watson recalls. Man down. Paramedics ask him what year it is. The dazed Watson replies, “1999.”

At the hospital, docs give him a CAT scan.

The good news: Despite the broken cheekbone, loose teeth, and a bloody cut on the side of his nose, Watson doesn’t need surgery. Just some glue to seal that nose gash and he’ll be on his way. Except . . .

The bad news: The CAT scan spots a tumor in Watson’s brain.

“About an hour after the CAT scan, the doctors came in the room and said, ‘We found something else,’” Watson remembers. “I was like, ‘Is it a crack in my skull?’ and they’re like, ‘No, it’s a tumor.’ Then everything got all serious. I immediately thought about my mom, she used to have a golf ball-sized tumor in her head.”

(Doctors removed his mom’s tumor. And it turned out to be benign. She’s alive and well.)

Doctors tell Watson his tumor is the size of a pea, located in his pineal gland. Tumors there are very rare, doctors say, and when they do show up, they’re usually benign.

“The pain in my face no longer hurt,” remembers Watson as he’s getting hit by a pretty big reality check. “I’m thinking that everything happens for a reason. I got lucky. You live life differently after you here something like that.”

The 32-year-old father of three checks out of the hospital at around 3 a.m.

He sleeps late the next day and, still a bit drugged up with medication, shows up in time to enter the Best Trick contest, and sticks his line.

Now it’s time to wait and see: This summer, Watson will get an MRI and spinal tap to see if the pea-sized tumor is cancerous. “This is not a taboo topic for me,” he says. “I’m not scared. I’m living a full life.”
-PoolSnob

AJ
05-27-2009, 12:28 AM
good thing they caught it early.

now it can be "somewhat" treatable if its deadly

The Beard
05-27-2009, 12:33 AM
god damn... thanks for posting

zerohalo21
05-27-2009, 02:29 AM
Karl Watson is a pretty cool dude that seems really down to earth. I hope everything goes well for him.

BakerForLife
05-27-2009, 02:34 AM
fuucckk. he's SSOOOOO chill. i skated in front of him last year and did a late flip, and he was like "ohhhhh" and stuff. it was so tight. he was really nice about signing my shirt as well. i love him, and his skating. hope everything goes well, and he gets better soon.

aussiead
05-27-2009, 05:34 AM
dam man i realy like karl watson sorry to hear about the board to the face and the tumor.

hope everything turns out ok for him

heartagram695
05-27-2009, 12:52 PM
i didnt watch the tampa pro this year so i had no idea about this. i really hope everything goes well.

Noj
05-27-2009, 01:22 PM
Good that they caught the tumor early. I hope it's benign and Watson recovers quickly.

Qtip
05-27-2009, 05:42 PM
Damn, well done Chico Brenes.