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ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised in less than a week for Kevin Ogar, an athlete who is now paralyzed after severing his spine during a CrossFit competition in Orange County, Calif. on Sunday.
"At this time, Kevin has no movement below the waist and will be faced with numerous surgeries and a long road ahead for rehabilitation," says a statement on a website that is helping raise money for the man who had no insurance when he was rushed to the hospital.
Ogar has since been approved for Medicaid, according to a Facebook page posting updates about his condition, and the donations made to pay for his bills have topped $200,000 as of Friday afternoon.
The lift Ogar was performing when he was injured is called a "snatch." It's a quick and powerful lift that involves moving weight all the way from the ground to over the head. A video posted online earlier this week purportedly shows the incident as it happened. The man in the video — identified as Ogar by his surgeon — can be seen bailing out of a lift and dropping the bar behind him, where it appears to bounce on some weights and hit him in the back.
"In his case, it was a freak accident — a freak catastrophe where everything kind of came together at the wrong time and the wrong place," said Dr. Mohsin Shah, the neurosurgeon who operated on Ogar. Shah, who specializes in neurological trauma and neuro intensive care, performed two surgeries on Ogar at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, California.
He said the type of injury Ogar suffered — a flexion-distraction injury that severed his spinal cord — is usually seen in victims of high-speed motor vehicle accidents.
"We were able to fully erect and realign his spinal column — he essentially had reconstructed spinal surgery," Shah said.
Ogar's family has been overwhelmed with the number of donations that have flooded in to help cover all of the medical expenses.
We have cried just as many happy tears as we have sad. I think that speaks to the community of athletes that surrounds my brother, and I think that that speaks to the person that my brother is because his heart is even bigger than his muscles.
–Megan Ogar, sister
"That's just been a blessing out of something that could have just been tragic," his sister, Megan Ogar, told HLN Friday. "We have cried just as many happy tears as we have sad. I think that speaks to the community of athletes that surrounds my brother, and I think that that speaks to the person that my brother is because his heart is even bigger than his muscles."
"The CrossFit community has shown up in force," Vince Ogar, Kevin Ogar's father, told HLN affiliate KSDK. "They've been awesome. Not just their support financially but their support with prayers and coming by to see Kev. It's amazing."
Dr. Cathleen London, a board-certified family practice physician, told HLN that whether a person is training in CrossFit or just lifting weights in general, "having a spotter and not taking on too much is key to safety."
London also said that athletes should gradually increase their level of activity. For example, for a runner, don't increase the distance more than 10% each week.
"I think one of the things about CrossFit is not listening to your body. When is pain OK and when is it a warning?" asked London. "When he bailed on the weight, there should have been someone there to keep it from bouncing the way it did."
HLN has reached out to the OC Throwdown, the competition where Ogar was competing, but has yet to hear back.
The company released a statement on its website Thursday that reads, in part, "The OCT procured the proper liability insurance which is mandatory for this type of event. We had all necessary state, county and engineering licenses in place. The OCT also had a full medical team on-site, all weekend. Within seconds of the injury there was a medical team by Kevin's side and the paramedics arrived within minutes."
Ogar, who has a long road of recovery ahead of him, is about to head back home to Denver, Colorado, where he will continue his rehabilitation. He's making gradual progress and Thursday he was able to brush his own teeth and beard, according to the Facebook page connected to the donation campaign.
"He's up to the challenge," his dad told KSDK. "First thing's first. Got to get him out of the hospital."
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