He paid dearly for his foolishness.

He paid dearly for his foolishness.

NEWS:

Frustrated player is paralyzed after hitting his head on cement.

ATHENS – Slobodan Jankovic, furious over a decision that took him out of the game, hit his head against a cement block in anger and broke his neck which left him paralyzed.

With several players fighting for the rebound, the referee awarded the fifth foul on Jankovic. Waving his arms, in disbelief that he had committed a foul, Jankovic went towards the backboard and hit his head on the cement blocks that supported it. He recovered and fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

He told paramedics he couldn’t feel anything from the waist down.

“It is 99.99% certain that Jankovic’s legs will be paralyzed, while his arms will be partially incapacitated,” said team doctor Giorgos Katsifarakis.

Doctors said Jankovic, 30, was in critical condition and it was not possible to give a prognosis. A hospital statement later said Jankovic had a fractured neck vertebra, spinal cord damage and paralysis from the neck down.