In the public eye, for the past several months we have been operating under the assumption that Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith would be lucky to ever play the game of football again.
Now, after he’s opened up in an ESPN piece detailing his recovery from a gruesome leg injury and the 17 leg surgeries that followed, Smith is telling us that he’s lucky to be alive.
In an interview with Jeremy Schaap on ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Saturday, Smith said that the severity of the injury — a compound fracture in his right tibia, and a fractured right fibula — coupled with the extensive infection had him playing defense on the injury for a long time.
“I had a pretty serious infection … they had a lot of complications with it,” Smith said, via ESPN.
Smith developed sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs when the body is fighting infection. As his medical team fought to save his life, he was under heavy sedation for pain and his memories of the early stages were limited. But there was another decision that was yet to come.
Smith told Schaap, “… [the] next thing I remember is waking up several weeks later faced with the decision of amputation or limb salvage at that point.”
During Smith’s recovery, there were rumors that the Redskins quarterback could potentially face a leg amputation, but it was never confirmed how close it came to being a reality. Obviously, Smith chose to save his limb, which brought on additional surgeries, and he eventually eradicated the infection.
“[I’m] so thankful for everyone that’s had a hand in this,” he said. “My wife, kids, and family and doctors and nurses and PTs and trainers and so many people that have helped me to be sitting here.”
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