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Titolo: Problemi per Walter Payton - plain text

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Vi mando tutta la storia in plain text
 Payton needs liver transplant
 Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
 Copyright © 1999 Associated Press
 By RICK GANO
 ROSEMONT, Ill. (February 3, 1999 12:44 a.m. EST
http://www.sportserver.com
) - Walter
 Payton, gaunt, tearful and barely resembling the dashing, durable
Chicago Bears'
 Hall of Famer who rushed his way into the NFL record books, got to the
point
 quickly on Tuesday: He has a rare liver disease and needs a transplant
to live.
 "To the people that really care about me, just continue praying," said
the
 44-year-old Payton, who choked up when he embraced his 17-year-old son,
 Jarrett.
 The disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, afflicts just three in
100,000 people,
 said Payton's physician, Dr. Joseph Lagattuta. The cause of the
disease, which
 blocks the bile ducts, is unknown, but isn't related to alcohol,
steroids, hepatitis or
 immune deficiency, he said.
 Patients in Payton's condition survive an average of two years unless
they receive
 a liver transplant, Lagattuta said. Symptoms include fatigue and
jaundice -
 yellowing of the pigment of the eyes and skin.
 Asked if he was scared, the NFL's all-time rushing leader snapped: "Am
I scared?
 Hell yeah, I'm scared. Wouldn't you be scared?"
 "But it's not in my hands anymore," he added. "It's in God's hands."
 In 13 years with the Bears, Payton's trademarks were his vaulting goal
line leaps
 and a punishing running style. He stiff-armed and barreled past
tacklers in the
 open field almost as often as he dodged them.
 Rumors about Payton's health spread last week after he appeared at a
news
 conference where his son announced he would play college football for
Miami.
 Payton said those rumors prompted his disclosure.
 "We wanted to get everything straight before things got bad," said
Payton, who
 wore sunglasses and an NFL jacket and bluejeans that couldn't hide his
thinness.
 Payton is being evaluated for a transplant at the Mayo Clinic, where
former
 Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker received a liver transplant in 1996 for
the same
 disease. Tucker was on a waiting list for four months.
 Lagattuta said 88 percent of people who receive a liver transplant are
alive after a
 year, and the long-term survival rate is "very promising." He said most
patients can
 return to an active life if they receive a transplant.
 Patients in Payton's condition survive an average of two years without
a transplant,
 the doctor said.
 Doctors say he won't get preferential treatment because of his
celebrity.
 News of Payton's illness sobered those who knew him as a muscular,
fearless
 player.
 "We're all humans and regardless of how rich we are, how fortunate we
are,
 whatever we maybe, things like this happen," said retired Bears
fullback Roland
 Harper, who blocked for Payton.
 Former Bears coach Mike Ditka called Payton "the greatest football
player I've ever
 seen."
 "Plus, he's one of the sweetest human beings I know," Ditka said from
New
 Orleans. "And if that's not important, I don't know what is."
 Bears owners Ed and Virginia McCaskey issued a brief statement saying
they were
 "devastated to hear that Walter is sick."
 "He's a very dear person to our family and the entire Bears
organization. We'll do
 all we can to help Walter in his current battle."
 Said NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue: "The love, support and prayers of
the
 entire NFL are with him."
 Lagattuta said the disease is difficult to diagnose and can go
undetected for years.
 He initially thought it might be a gall bladder problem when Payton
told him in
 October that he had felt ill for a few months. The liver problem was
diagnosed within
 the last two weeks.
 Lagattuta said Payton has significant bile-duct blockage. To aid his
digestion and
 give him adequate nutrition, a plastic tube was surgically inserted
between the
 vessel that carries bile from the liver to the intestines.
 "It's amazing, I can eat anything I want, as much as I want, and I
still can't gain any
 weight," Payton said.
 In his final season with the Bears in 1987, the 5-11 Payton was listed
at 202
 pounds.
 Asked how much he weighed now, Payton wouldn't say.
 Instead, he replied: "You want to pick me up?"
 It probably wouldn't be that hard.
 A first-round draft pick from Jackson State in 1975, Payton carried the
load for
 mediocre Bears teams early in his career before leading Chicago to its
only Super
 Bowl appearance, after the 1985 season.
 Selected to nine Pro Bowls and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of
Fame in
 1993, the player known as "Sweetness" holds NFL career records for
yards
 gained, 16,726, and carries, 3,838.
 He posted 77 100-yard games and 10 1,000-yard rushing seasons. His
275-yard
 rushing performance against Minnesota in 1977 still stands as the NFL
record for
 most rushing yards in a game.
 After retiring from football, Payton co-owned an Indy-CART auto-racing
team and
 ran a restaurant and other businesses in the Chicago area. He served on
the Bears
 board of directors and joined groups seeking NFL franchises.

Non c'e' nessuno che puo' dirmi se ci sono novita' per quanto riguarda
la scomparsa del football (almeno a 11) a Milano e Bologna?
C'e' la speranza che i Rhinos partecipino *almeno* alla WL il prossimo
autunno?
...grazie!!!!
Fabio from Genova