Hulud
09-25-2006, 11:42 PM
Top Uruguayan soccer player loses leg
September 25, 2006
AP - Sep 25, 4:50 pm EDT
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MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -- The shattered right leg of top Uruguayan soccer player Dario Silva was amputated after he was thrown from his car in a highway accident, hospital officials said Monday.
The 33-year-old forward, a member of the national team, was driving along a Montevideo road that fronts the River Plate Estuary early Sunday when his car struck a light post on a center divider, police said. He hurtled through a side window, and his right leg was caught and badly broken as the light post toppled over the car, authorities said.
The Asociacion Espanola clinic said Silva remained under heavy sedation after the amputation.
"The amputation was carried out just below the knee of his right leg. But he is going back into the surgery unit to determine if there has been any infection," Dr. Mario Cancela said, adding sand and dirt appeared to have been ground into the leg by the fallen post.
"We have to keep cleaning this area to prevent any infection from spreading," he said.
Authorities said Silva was accompanied by two former players -- Dardo Pereira, 34, was not injured, and Elbio Papa, 40, was slightly injured and had to be extricated from the car's twisted metal.
Silva left Sevilla in Spain and Portsmouth in England in 2005, but was released and has been without a club. Silva also has played in the Italian and Uruguayan leagues.
September 25, 2006
AP - Sep 25, 4:50 pm EDT
More Photos
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) -- The shattered right leg of top Uruguayan soccer player Dario Silva was amputated after he was thrown from his car in a highway accident, hospital officials said Monday.
The 33-year-old forward, a member of the national team, was driving along a Montevideo road that fronts the River Plate Estuary early Sunday when his car struck a light post on a center divider, police said. He hurtled through a side window, and his right leg was caught and badly broken as the light post toppled over the car, authorities said.
The Asociacion Espanola clinic said Silva remained under heavy sedation after the amputation.
"The amputation was carried out just below the knee of his right leg. But he is going back into the surgery unit to determine if there has been any infection," Dr. Mario Cancela said, adding sand and dirt appeared to have been ground into the leg by the fallen post.
"We have to keep cleaning this area to prevent any infection from spreading," he said.
Authorities said Silva was accompanied by two former players -- Dardo Pereira, 34, was not injured, and Elbio Papa, 40, was slightly injured and had to be extricated from the car's twisted metal.
Silva left Sevilla in Spain and Portsmouth in England in 2005, but was released and has been without a club. Silva also has played in the Italian and Uruguayan leagues.