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Cowboys' assistant coach injured in storm
2009-05-03
IRVING, Texas (AFP) - Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis broke his back as a dozen people were injured when the roof of the National Football League team's practice facility collapsed in a storm. DeCamillis wore a neck brace as he was stretchered out of the main office building on Saturday, and former coach Dan Reeves, DeCamillis' father-in-law, said the first-year Dallas coach had two broken vertebrae in his lower back. "They say he's lucky not to be paralyzed," said Reeves, adding that DeCamillis was likely to have surgery. The storm hit while 27 players were going through workouts at a rookie minicamp. There were about 70 people in the facility, including coaches, other team staff and media, officials said. Ten of those hurt were taken by ambulance to hospital and two others went to the hospital on their own. "Right now, I think we don't have anybody who is in a life-threatening situation," doctor Paul Pepe, head of emergency medical services for Dallas County, said. The storm briefly knocked out electricity at the facility. The collapsed roof is a canopy supported by air and metal framework that keeps the rain off of the training field. "We're lucky no one got electrocuted with all the water in the building," head coach Wade Phillips said. "A couple of players had minor injuries, but they were all right."
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