Nov 13, 2014
Blue Jackets' Horton in constant back pain, could face career-ending surgery
Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Nathan Horton, who hasn’t played since April, could be facing career-ending back surgery. Horton is in constant pain due to a degenerative back condition and the only alternative to dealing with the pain is back surgery that would put an end to his career.
TSN.ca Staff
Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Nathan Horton, who hasn’t played since April, could be facing career-ending back surgery.
Horton is in constant pain due to a degenerative back condition and the only alternative to dealing with the pain is back surgery that would put an end to his career.
“I can’t stand up like a normal person; I can’t bend over,” Horton told the Columbus Dispatch. “I can’t run. I can’t play with my kids. To get in and out of the car, I’m like a 75-year-old man … so slow and stiff. I can’t sleep at night. I try to lay down and my back seizes up and I can’t move, so sleeping is out. I’m like a zombie in the daytime.”
The procedure would be a three- or four-level spinal fusion with a titanium rod according to the report, and would end the 29-year-old’s career.
“I don’t want to have surgery, because of what that means,” Horton told the Columbus Dispatch. “I don’t want to live with this pain, but I don’t want to make that decision.
Horton signed a seven-year, $37.1 million deal with the Blue Jackets ahead of last season but only played in 35 games that year due to injury.