Frustrated Player Left Paralyzed After Ramming Head Into Cement

Slobodan Jankovic, fuming at a call that fouled him out of the game, rammed his head against a cement block in anger and suffered a broken neck that left him paralyzed.

The 6-foot-8 Serb is the center for Panionios of Athens, which was playing in the semifinals of the Greek Championships.

It happened Wednesday night with six minutes to play and Jankovic’s team trailing Panathinaikos by four points.

With several players fighting for a rebound, the referee called a fifth foul on Jankovic. Waving his arms in disbelief that he had fouled out, Jankovic moved toward the backboard and rammed his head against the cement blocks supporting it. He bounced back and slumped to the floor in a pool of blood.

He told paramedics that he had no feeling from the waist down.

“It’s 99.99% certain Jankovic’s legs will be paralyzed, while his arms will be partially disabled,” team doctor Giorgos Katsifarakis said.

Doctors said Jankovic, 30, was in critical condition and it was not possible to give a prognosis. Later, a hospital statement said that Jankovic has a fractured neck vertebrae, damage to the spinal cord and paralysis from the neck down.