Robert knew his all-consuming basketball life was over with too much time on the bench at LSU. He became a star in a park of a New Orleans playground. In the final minute of his last playground game, Robert came crashing down on his back after blocking a shot. He could not get up. This was the worst pain in his life. The CT scan revealed two vertebral body fractures at L3L4, L4L5. There was T2 signaling of the spinal cord at L4L5. T2 signaling means spinal cord involvement with the fracture. A four-level bilateral laminectomy and fusion was the indicated surgery. Robert was in the prone position for his 4-hour surgery. He woke up blind in one eye.