But the good news is, he'll be OK!
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=191161&pub=1&div=Sports
Pontotoc's Smith dodges death, safe at home
4/15/2005 1:34:29 AM
Daily Journal
PONTOTOC - Shannon Smith's love of baseball nearly killed him.
Smith, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior shortstop for the Pontotoc High School baseball team, played in an April 2 doubleheader despite an excruciating pain in his stomach.
"I thought I had a stomach virus; I threw up seven times the day before," he said. "I was so sore that Saturday morning, I could barely move."
Still, the competitive Smith told his coach, Phil Webb, he could play in the opening game against rival South Pontotoc.
"It hurt the whole time; I played through it," Smith said.
Smith, despite his aches, produced for the Warriors. He drove in one run with a sacrifice and added another when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. He also stole a base.
"In between games, he throws up, then lays on a couch and sleeps," Webb said. "He's not the type kid to sit out a game."
In the second game, against Kossuth, Smith went 2-for-3 at the plate with a drag bunt single and a single in his final at-bat.
By the fifth inning of the second game, however, the pain became so intense that Smith asked to be benched.
"There were tears in his eyes he was hurting so bad," Webb said.
Sunday and Monday the severity of the pain intensified and persisted. Smith hurt so much that Monday morning he couldn't bend over to tie his shoes for school. However, he knew if he missed class, he wouldn't be allowed to play in that night's game against Oxford.
Monday afternoon, the pain finally got the best of the gritty athlete. He asked his mom, Sandra, to take him to the hospital.
Close call
Smith was doubled over in anguish by the time he received medical attention.
A series of tests administered by the doctor concluded the youngster's appendix was on the verge of rupturing, and he had the beginning of life-threatening internal gangrene.
Smith immediately underwent laparoscopic surgery to remove the swollen appendix and treat the gangrene.
"The doctor couldn't believe Shannon had played two games Saturday," Sandra Smith said. "He said if the appendix had ruptured, there would have been nothing they could have done."
In fact, Smith's doctor told him had he played Monday, the appendix would have ruptured.
"He said I wouldn't have made it back alive," Smith said. "That scared me."
Smith's first question for his mom after surgery was: "Did we win?"
"That's Shannon, he loves baseball," she said.
While Smith was hospitalized, his mom would take him outside in a wheelchair for some fresh air. He brought a baseball with him each time.
"He was throwing it up and down; I'm glad he didn't have a glove, he might have had me out there catching it," Sandra Smith said with a laugh.
Recovery time
Smith's home this week, recovering from surgery and his brush with death. What's hurting him now is the fact he may have played in his final high school game.
"It hurts so much to have to sit out and watch," said the four-year starter. "My status is day-by-day. We're going to see how things go."
Pontotoc certainly misses having Smith in its lineup.
He was batting .362, second on the team, and was leading the club in runs scored, stolen bases and hits when he was sidelined.
"It's been tough for us without him," Webb said. "He's our leadoff batter, our leader. The guy's a ballplayer, that's the only way to describe him. He loves it.
"He's the kind of player I want on my team. I certainly wouldn't want to play against him."
Smith hopes the Warriors go deep into the postseason, so he'll have a slim opportunity to return to the field.
"I'll consider myself lucky if I get to play any the rest of the year," he said.
Actually, Shannon Smith feels pretty lucky already.
Gene Phelps (gene.phelps@djournal.com) is sports editor for The Daily Journal
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 4/15/2005 8:00:00 AM, section D , page 6
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