London Free Press: City's Dervishi Knocked Down, Not
Out
September 10, 2002
City's Dervishi knocked down, not out
By Morris Dalla Costa,
Free Press Sports Columnist
It was an incident that showed
emphatically how in but a moment, an athletic career can end.
The good news
is that London City soccer star Gentian Dervishi will be fine . . . eventually.
He'll be able to resume his playing career without longterm implications.
But for a few frightening seconds Friday, in a meaningless exhibition game
between Canadian Professional Soccer League London City and the University of
Western Ontario Mustangs at Cove Road field, anyone who got close enough to see
Dervishi's face would have given him little chance at making that comeback.
It was late in the first half when Dervishi went after a looping cross
inside the goalkeeper's six-yard box. The Western netminder, Roberto Caballero
Jr., came out and attempted to double-punch the ball away. Instead, he connected
with Dervishi's face, whipping the City player's head back.
Dervishi went
down immediately. The force of the impact drove a bottom tooth through his upper
lip. He bit his tongue. His jaw was fractured in several places. The left side
of his jaw, teeth and all, was moved to the middle of his face and driven down a
half inch.
"When you get cut on your face and mouth, it bleeds like crazy to
begin with," said Harry Gauss, City coach and general manager. "You should have
seen this. The injury was just awful."
The face was so out of alignment
there were initial concerns about permanent disfigurement.
On Sunday,
Dervishi underwent four hours of surgery to repair the jaw. There were three
steel plates inserted to help realign it.
How good was the repair work?
Other than a little swelling and a bandage to protect the incision along the
lower jaw line, one would have been hard pressed to see anything wrong with the
23-year-old Dervishi. What may be most miraculous is that he didn't lose any
teeth.
"He punched my head instead of the ball. These things happen in
sports," Dervishi said. "It was nothing intentional.
"When I got hit someone
came out to help me and he kept saying 'You're fine. Everything will be fine.' I
knew that wasn't true because when I moved my jaw, it moved all the way across
to here," he continued, indicating a spot near the middle of his face.
"I
also knew that one tooth went right through my lip and that the rest of my teeth
were in the middle of my face."
Dervishi was conscious throughout the entire
ordeal.
"There was a lot of pain and so much blood I was chocking on it," he
said.
Not in so much pain that he couldn't worry about his looks. "I said to
Harry, 'I'm going to lose my teeth and then I'm going to look like an old man."
Dervishi is described by Gauss as having a high pain threshold. Dervishi
didn't want to take painkillers to "pollute" his body.
He was also worried
about missing a lot of time on the field, especially with the CPSL League Cup
finals being played at Cove Road in three weeks.
"He has blood all over his
face. His jaw is all over his face and he looks up and he says 'Harry, how long
before the Cup? I can be back,' " Gauss said.
"Three weeks is a long time,"
Dervishi said, appearing somewhat oblivious to the severity of the injury.
"We'll see."
That would be a conjurer's trick of Merlin-like proportion when
you consider it will be a good six weeks before Dervishi will be able to eat
solid food again.
The injury shook up City and Gauss. When the devastating
collision took place, fear became a very real part of the proceedings. Dervishi
is a well-liked and respected person. He also happens to be one of the most
skilled soccer players in the city.
The good news is he'll get to display
that talent again.
.
.