Mendoza escapes major neck injury after scary fall

Jaypee Mendoza being stretched out back into the dugout after a scary fall. Photo by Daryl Gonzales/PBA

Things took on a scary turn when Jaypee Mendoza went down late in Alaska’s 95-89 win over Rain or Shine on Wednesday.

Jericho Cruz inadvertently kneed Mendoza on the back of the head as they went down on the rebound play with 26.1 seconds left on the clock with the Aces holding a 94-89 lead against the Elasto Painters.

The former San Beda standout had to be stretchered back to the Aces’ dugout, eliciting concerns from everyone inside Cuneta Astrodome and those watching on television.

Gruesome memories of Eugene Tejada’s accident in 2007 immediately rushed back to everyone’s consciousness, including Mendoza’s.

Flashback 

“I saw that [play]. When I couldn’t feel my neck, that was the first thing that entered my mind,” Mendoza said in Filipino.

Coach Alex Compton got emotional as he addressed the media after the game.

“I got a little scared because Eugene Tejada is a good friend and to see somebody’s neck like that brought me back to being in the hospital with Gene and he can’t move anything but his mouth,” Compton said, recounting the career-ending injury which saw the former Purefoods forward dislocate his spine.

Compton checked on his player first before he entered the dugout for the post-game interview where he admitted to have lost his focus a bit after the scary fall out of sheer concern for Mendoza.

“It just really hit me. I love my guys. I lost the last 30 seconds or so. I was in la la land,” he said. “I coach because I feel like I’m supposed to, I feel like I’m called to. I know my profession. Chot (Reyes) told me before that coaches are hired to be fired. It’s fine. To me, it’s not about winning games. Maybe that’s why we had four Finals and no championship. It’s about affecting guys’ lives. I just want to impact those guys’ lives, I care about those guys.”

Mendoza has been nothing but stellar for the Aces and he provided the energy down low in lieu of the fouled out Calvin Abueva in the last five minutes of the game. He got eight points and nine rebounds in his 19 minutes on the floor.

Functioning extremities

Luckily, Alaska team doctor Facundo Sun assured that the medical staff, together with Dr. Gus Vargas, are doing their best to make sure the hard-nosed forward will be alright.

“When he fell, his head hit floor and there was something like a whiplash, but it’s very, very minimal. The bigger problem was when he fell down, he got kneed in the neck so the muscle went into spasm and it tightened,” he said. “The first thing I did was examine everything. His extremities were functioning so we don’t want to have another Eugene. That’s what we are worried about.”

Sun shared that the team are doing preventive measures on Mendoza like putting him in therapy before getting him checked again on Thursday.

“We did the TNT, now were doing a laser therapy hopefully to minimize the swelling from becoming too tense. It’s nothing serious. We’ll just try to solve the inflammation as soon as possible,” he said.

No harm meant

For his part, Cruz said that he meant no harm in the scuffle and bared that he already apologized to some people in the Alaska camp.

“I didn’t mean to do that. I was going for the ball and I just wanted to win. I didn’t mean to hurt him,” he said. “I talked to coach Alex Compton and coach Topex (Robinson) and some of the players. I feel so bad. I’m hoping he’s ok and he’ll play the next game. I’ll be praying for him and I’m wishing him a speedy recovery.”

Mendoza is also thankful that he got out of this scary incident unscathed.

“I’m just thankful to God that I’m safe and this is nothing serious. I’m really thankful to the Lord.”

Alaska is hopeful that Mendoza will be in tip-top shape come Sunday when the Aces, armed with a twice-to-beat advantage, play Ginebra in their quarterfinals duel.

“I think he should be okay by Sunday, hopefully,” said Sun.

Compton ended: “I think Jaypee Mendoza is going to be OK. He’s a tough kid. He can feel his legs so that’s good.”