The University of Iowa received very good news Friday with the announcement that five of their 13 football players had been released from the hospital.
Sunday evening, the school announced the best news possible.
According to a press release, all 13 of the University of Iowa football players who had been hospitalized with symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a muscular syndrome, have been released from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The players had been in the hospital receiving treatment for the condition since Monday evening.
Per the release, six players were discharged on Saturday, and the final two were sent home on Sunday.
“Getting all 13 student-athletes healthy and out of the hospital has been priority number one all along, so I’m very happy that they all are now back home and resuming their lives,” said head coach Kirk Ferentz in a statement.
“These young men and their families have been through a difficult and trying time. They are under my supervision and watch, and I am truly sorry for what they’ve experienced. They trained extremely hard and ended up in the hospital, and there is no indication they did anything wrong. So I’m pleased they are progressing well and I look forward to seeing all of them being back to normal.”
While there are plenty of questions to answer, including what caused the condition following strenuous winter conditioning workouts and the school’s initial response, the focus right now should be on the fact the players are out of the hospital and, apparently, on the road to recovery.
Hopefully, the investigation into the causes of the illness will shed light on what happened and how it can be avoided in the future at not only Iowa but other schools as well.
