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Pitt running back Burns' prognosis good after stroke
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Pitt football player Derrick Burns remains in UPMC Presbyterian and is recovering after suffering a stroke Tuesday that likely will end his playing career.
Burns, a 20-year-old redshirt freshman fullback, was walking Wednesday and has received an encouraging prognosis from doctors.
"He was doing fantastic [Wednesday]," Dan Burns, his adoptive father, said Thursday. "He was very upbeat. He's still very weak on the right side, but his prognosis is very good. He has massive blood clots in his brain, and they're working to dissolve those."
Dan Burns said doctors elected not to perform surgery because they deemed it too risky. Doctors have not given a timetable for Derrick Burns' release from the hospital, but Dan Burns said it could be a matter of "days or weeks."
Dan Burns also said Derrick Burns will be on blood thinners the rest of his life.
"He'll still be a part of the team though," Dan Burns said. "That won't change."
Derrick Burns, of New Wilmington, Pa., redshirted in 2010 season and played in one game last season.
First Published May 25, 2012 12:00 am
