Ryan Joseph, the College Park High wrestler who was paralyzed after suffering a spinal cord injury during a match earlier this month, is feeling some sensation at the top and bottom of his feet, Falcons athletic director Jim Keck said Wednesday.
In addition, Keck said “there has been some activity in his diaphragm, though he’s still on a ventilator.”
Joseph is hospitalized at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where Keck said the sophomore is expected to remain until he can hopefully be admitted to a medical center in Denver for follow-up treatment.
A GoFundMe account, with a photo of Ryan in his College Park lacrosse uniform, can be found here. Over $140,000 has been raised, but a lot more is needed.
Joseph has been paralyzed from the neck down since being hurt in a 160-pound junior varsity match.
Ryan, who wrestles and plays lacrosse at College Park, is the son of Tom Joseph, the former football player and wrestler from De La Salle. Tom Joseph, an all-East Bay football player for the Spartans in the early 1980’s, was inducted into the DLS Hall of Fame in September.
