Even in the immediate aftermath of the collision that left him paralyzed on the Sanford Stadium grass, Devon Gales betrayed none of the expected emotions.
Georgia Bulldogs team chaplain Kevin Hynes, one of the first to reach the stricken Southern University sophomore during the Sept. 26 game against Georgia, later reported the unusual scene to Gales’ stepmother.
“‘Chappy’ said it was like Devon had a spirit of peace to him,” Tish Gales said. “He never panicked. He never cried. He was just asking for his daddy (the family was back in Louisiana).”
Two months later, Gales evinces another unexpected reaction as he goes about rehabilitation from his debilitating neck injury at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, learning to deal with the likelihood he’ll never walk again:
Gratitude.
Thankfulness has come freely to him when speaking about both the direct support that has poured into the fund established by Southern University and the flood of well wishes from around the country. On the walls of his room at Shepherd are pinned hundreds of cards of encouragement, many signed by Georgia fans, many others from local school children.
As Gales put it last week, “I want to thank everyone from UGA, Louisiana. It has been a true blessing to have this amount of support and help for me and my family through this experience.”
Last Saturday, Gales returned to the scene of his traumatic injury, visiting Athens for the Georgia Southern-Georgia game.
“I’m going to support UGA,” he said in advance. “All the support they gave me I want to give back to UGA.”
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