These Athletes Nearly Lost Their Lives For Their Sports

Sports are dangerous. This isn't too strange to say, considering how so many sports are high-contact. Even those that aren't, it just takes one accident to cause life-threatening and changing injuries.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, there are around 3.5 million sports-related injuries every year. While many of these injuries occur in children, adults playing professional sports also get hurt. Some even got hurt while playing their sport, and it nearly cost their lives.

Interested in jaw-dropping stories where sports players managed to survive terrible injuries? Click through the slideshow. For information on these injuries and moments, 24/7 Tempo reviewed online news sources relating to the athletes.

Imagine being told you only have about a 10% chance of living and somehow overcoming all odds. This is a piece of Ernie Irvan's story. Although now a retired NASCAR competitor, he's competed in nearly 400 races in NASCAR. A few awards he's won include the 1993 Super Ford Magazine Driver of the Year, the 1995 Maxwell House Spirit Award, and the 1996 Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award.

While he's known for his incredible wins, he's best known for his miraculous comeback after a serious head injury. During a Saturday early-morning practice session at Michigan, Irvan blew a tire and crashed into the concrete wall at 170 mph. His injuries were so severe that he needed an emergency tracheotomy on the spot. He was then airlifted to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a basilar skull fracture and severe lung injuries. The first two days in the hospital were rough, but he got stronger each day. A little less than two months later, he walked at the gala NASCAR Awards Banquet to receive the True Value Hard Charger Award. By 1995, he was cleared and training to get back to racing.

Racing is such a dangerous sport. There is no telling when an accident, like a popped tire, will occur, launching your vehicle into another vehicle or the concrete.

While Steve Park doesn't talk much about his life-threatening injury, it's important to mention it. While racing at Darlington Raceway in 2001, his steering wheel came off, and he crashed into Larry Foyt, who was speeding up to catch up. Park was left with a severe brain injury that took him out of racing for a while. His rehabilitation process ended in 2005. After recovering, he's continued racing. Some of his major awards and successes include the 1997 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year, the 2005 American Racing Wheels 200 (California) win, and the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Driver.

Injuries are nothing new to Travis Pastrana, who's been racing in NASCAR and motocross since he was a teenager. One of his worst injuries was when he was just 14 years old. While competing in a freestyle motocross competition, he landed on the top of the front side of the landing ramp. The fall was so sudden that his spine separated from his pelvis.

According to his doctors at the time, only three people with that injury had ever survived. Well, not only did Pastrana survive, but he continued competing and has made a name for himself in the racing world. Since then, he's won the 2021 Nitro Rallycross Championship and the 2006 - 2009 Rally America National Championship.

Baseball is also a dangerous sport. Even with safety precautions like helmets, there is always a risk of brain injury. Unfortunately, this happened to Daniel Ponce de Leon. On May 9, 2017, while pitching at a game, Víctor Caratini of the Iowa Cubs hit a line drive that struck Ponce de Leon in the head.

The result was a brain injury and emergency surgery. Even though his injury was super serious and nearly fatal, he was cleared for baseball activities in August. Still, he didn't return until the Spring of 2018. This was when he debuted in the MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ryan Newman has won so many races, but one of the most shocking things to happen in his career is how he survived one of the worst NASCAR crashes in decades.

On February 17, 2020, while on the final lap, Newman's car went flying after a tap by Ryan Blaney sent Newman's car to the wall. The car then turned in the air and slammed into Corey LaJoie's car at high speed. His injuries were serious, and the car was practically destroyed, yet the injuries were non-life-threatening. He sustained a head injury but didn't break any bones. Because of his head injury, there are gaps in his memory associated with the race.

Damar Hamlin, an NFL player for the Buffalo Bills, is lucky to be alive. Not many people can suffer from cardiac arrest and get back to playing shortly after.

On January 2, 2023, while playing against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin was hit in the chest during a tackle and suffered from cardiac arrest. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Hamlin fell back and remained motionless. First responders conducted CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) for ten minutes before the ambulance came and took him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for more treatment, as he was in critical condition. So, why did he suffer cardiac arrest? Hamlin had a super rare episode of commotio cordis. He was lucky, as the condition is 97% fatal without quick treatment.

Cardiac arrest while playing sports isn't as uncommon as you'd think. Christian Eriksen also suffered from cardiac arrest, although during a soccer game.

On June 12, 2021, during a UEFA Euro 2020 match against Finland, he collapsed and suffered from cardiac arrest. His teammates and first responders worked quickly, rushing to his side and starting treatment. His heart stopped, so he was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the field. He was further given treatment at a facility and fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. Just eight months later, he was back on the field playing.

Another line drive to hurt a baseball player happened in 2021. On June 3, 2021, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Tyler Zombro pitched a ball against Brett Cumberland. Cumberland hit the ball, which flew back to Zombro and hit his head above his right ear at 104 miles per hour. It was so fast and severe that he fell and started having a seizure.

He was rushed to emergency care, where they worked hard to repair a serious skull fracture that needed 16 titanium plates and 36 screws. He survived and underwent a lot of different therapies for months. Just five months later, he was cleared to play. Although he played in a few games, he retired in 2024 because of consistent nerve issues.

Mickey Cochrane was one of the best baseball players and catchers of his time. Unfortunately, his time on the field was cut short with a near-fatal injury. On May 25, 1937, he was hit by a ball on his head in his right temple, sending him to the hospital immediately, where he stayed for about seven days.

He suffered from a concussion and three skull fractures and almost died from the severity. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a doctor described his injury as "The X-rays looked like a road map." While he stopped playing for the MLB after his life-threatening injury, he didn't give up his love of baseball. He coached baseball while serving in the United States Navy during World War II.

D.J. Hayden almost didn't make it to the NFL because of a terrible injury. During a college practice game in 2012, he collided with the Safety, whose knee hit him in the chest. While not uncommon, something was wrong immediately. Hayden struggled to breathe and started feeling cold.

When he got medical attention, he was rushed to the emergency room, where they found that the collision had torn the inferior vena cava in his heart. Medical professionals worked hard to save him, and it worked. By 2013, he was back to playing and was drafted to the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders. Sadly, Hayden passed away on November 11, 2023, during a car crash where a vehicle ran a red light and caused the deaths of six.

One accident can completely change your life. Darryl Stingley's life completely changed after a nearly fatal injury when he was 26. On August 12, 1978, during a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders, Stingley collided with defensive back Jack Tatum, who was known to hit with brutal force.

The collision was so fast and the positions so strange that Stingley broke his fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae. The injury left him paralyzed from the waist down, and he lived the rest of his life as a quadriplegic with limited movement in his right hand.

Not many people can survive and recover from a cardiac arrest that stops their heart for 78 minutes. It's a miracle that Fabrice Muamba, a soccer player with a long international career, is alive.

On March 17, 2012, Muamba collapsed during the first half of a game between Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur because of cardiac arrest. Medical personnel rushed to his side, giving life-saving aid, including numerous defibrillator shocks to restart his heart. He was then taken by ambulance to the hospital, where doctors worked hard to keep him alive and restart his heart. Two days later, his heart was beating without medication. Although he recovered quickly, he was not cleared to play and instead retired the same year. His last professional game earned him a standing ovation and support from the crowd as he returned to the field where his heart stopped beating.

Another NFL player to sustain life-altering and threatening injuries was Kevin Everett, who was a tight end for the Buffalo Bills. On September 9, 2007, Everett injured his neck after trying to tackle the Denver Broncos. The injury was serious, a cervical spine injury. He was sedated for a day or two to see how bad the injury was.

After surgery, his doctors had hope he'd walk again, but they stated it would be a lengthy recovery time. One doctor said the opposite, that Everett had a statistically small chance of walking. With a lot of therapy and work, by December 7, 2007, Everett could walk again, but his range was limited. For his recovery and warrior spirit, he earned the 2008 George Halas Award.

Lastly, there is Reggie Brown, whose professional football career ended after a terrible injury. During the 1997 Detroit Lions season, the young linebacker suffered from a spinal cord contusion, changing his life forever.

The injury was so serious that on the field, he was unconscious and stopped breathing. Before he fell unconscious, he remembers not being able to move but hearing his teammates yelling for him to get up. Help was immediately dispatched, and he went into surgery the next day after he was stabilized for the top two vertebrae, as they were displaced. With time and medical assistance, he learned to walk again.