March Madness got a shock this Easter Sunday when Louisville sophomore Kevin Ware fell on his right leg badly, graphically breaking his lower leg nearly in half in front of a live national CBS broadcast audience.
Teammates were visibly shaken after the injury, as Ware lay in pain on the court with broken bone protruding from his skin. CBS cameras caught the injury and replayed it in slow motion twice after which it declined any further replays due to the graphic content of the video. Since then, the video has made it around the web.
Ware broke the leg after he attempted to block a shot from the 3-point line in the Midwest Regional final against Duke in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Indianapolis. Louisville ended up rallying to beat Duke, 85-63, to reach the final four.
The unfortunate Louisville guard was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where doctors performed surgery on his leg, which was broken in two places. According to CBSNews.com, Ware was groggy but in good spirit spirits and could be expected, by some sports surgeons, to be able to return next season. He is expected to remain in Indianapolis until Tuesday, at the earliest.
A spokesperson for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Dr. Frederick Azar, told CBSNews.com that the injury was likely especially severe because Ware landed with a twist, putting enough torsion and stress on his lower leg - along with all of his weight from such a high fall - that the bones just snapped.
[Warning! The video below is graphic]