Dary Myricks, a brother-in-law and former high school coach of Florida LB Neiron Ball, has rarely been able to sleep this week.
“No one has,” he said.
Ball’s family and friends in his hometown of Jackson, Ga., have been worried since Monday, when a blood vessel in Ball’s brain burst. He has been hospitalized since then.
Ball remained in the Intensive Care Unit at Shands HealthCare today and continued to show signs that his condition is improving. That said, it appears he has a long way to go before he is released.
“He might be in there for a while,” Myricks said, referring specifically to the ICU. Jackson High School head coach Mike Parris said today he understood Ball would likely be moved from the ICU on Friday, so that is unclear at the moment.
The good news for Ball is that doctors were able to stop the bleeding and prevent swelling in his brain, Myricks said.
“He’s doing fine; he’s doing better,” Myricks said. “The people at Florida and Shands have been 100 percent helpful and great to us.”
Myricks and his wife, Natalie Myricks (Ball’s older sister), returned to Georgia for at least a day, and Dary Myricks said he would not have done that if he still felt Ball was in jeopardy.
“There isn’t any imminent danger,” Parris said. “They’re just trying to let it heal.”
A Florida spokesperson said the school is not providing any information other than that Ball was diagnosed with a congenital vascular condition.
As expected, the trauma has been hard for Ball to endure at 18 years old. His fear is heightened by the fact
that both of his parents died at a relatively young age.
Parris and Myricks both said Ball has calmed down and is beginning to feel slightly more positive. Earlier in the week, Ball was terrified.
“If you’re an 18-year-old and this happens to you — he’s feeling about what you’d expect,” Myricks said. “He’s scared. We all are. We’re learning a lot about this, though, and the doctors are educating us.”
Ball, 18, will be a sophomore next season. He played every game for Florida as a true freshman and was expected to compete for a starting job this off-season.
The Gators start spring practices March 16. Parris said Florida coaches told him they already ruled out Ball for the spring.
