Denniston Out of Surgery, Condition Remains “Unchanged”

FORT COLLINS, Colo., February 8. THE condition of former Auburn University and Irvine Novaquatics star Dave Denniston remains unchanged following surgery yesterday evening at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Denniston, 25, a member of the USA 2003 World Chapionship team, was injured Sunday in a sledding accident near Laramie, Wyoming, that left him paralzyed from the waist down.

In a measure of the high esteem in which they hold him, Dave's former coaches — David Marsh of Auburn and David Salo of Irvine Novaquatics — reportedly were flying to Colorado this morning to be at his bedside.

In last evening's operation, surgeons fused vertebrae T-9, T-10, T-1 and T-12, and cleaned out bone chips in Dave's spine.

Glenn Mills, a close friend of Denniston's, told SwimInfo, "Daveis looking at a long-term recovery."

Before the surgery, doctors etimated that Dave's chances of walking again at "50-50."

Later today, Dave will be making a statement on SwimInfo for the swimming community.

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