Team spirit, hard to top this.....

[Dan Murphy]

Injured cheerleader expects full recovery from fall

ST LOUIS (AP)—Being strapped to a back and neck brace wasn't enough to keep a Southern Illinois University cheerleader from showing school spirit.

SIU sophomore Kristi Yamaoka went crashing 15 feet onto her head during a routine on Sunday, suffering chipped neck vertebrae and a concussion in front of a stunned crowd and national TV audience.

The school's pep band began playing the SIU fight song as the 18-year-old was carried off the floor, and she began moving her arms and cheering to the music.

Yamaoka says she figured seeing that would make it easier for the cheerleaders and team to keep performing and playing.

Yamaoka is in fair condition and expected to make a full recovery. Doctors have told her not to perform for six weeks—which means she'll miss the Salukis' NCAA tournament appearance.

Check the video link...........

http://www.tampabays10.com/video/player.aspx?aid=26097&sid=26901

 

[sleepyone]

Wow! That made me tear up. I hope she recovers quickly.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Apparently this morning she asked her coach if anyone taped the game. Her coach thought she wanted to see the fall, but instead she wanted to see the last four minutes of the game that she missed.

This make me proud to be an SIU grad.

 

[jfulcer]

I think it shows great team spirit, but part of me thinks that waving her arms at the beginning would have been enough to show she was ok.

God forbid if she had broken her neck, any one of those cheer movements might have paralyzed her for life.

I'm just kinda torn on this one.

 

[YourMajesty]

I think it shows great team spirit, but part of me thinks that waving her arms at the beginning would have been enough to show she was ok.

God forbid if she had broken her neck, any one of those cheer movements might have paralyzed her for life.

I'm just kinda torn on this one.

Wow...I actually saw this game and the fall(on tv). Why would they leave her arms free if moving them would have paralyzed her? That seems crazy that they would go to all the trouble to strap her on leaving her arms free(which could lead to being paralyzed)...who knew she would try to cheer on her way out but surely they knew she might wave or have an itch or something....