Hearn’s Surgery Goes Smoothly

The orthopedic surgeon who performed hip surgery on Chick Hearn on Tuesday called the operation a “complete success” and predicted Hearn could be back announcing Laker games by late April--in time for the NBA playoffs.

Hearn, who suffered a broken hip in a mishap at a service station Sunday evening, should be up and using a walker by today, and is expected to be walking with a cane when he leaves the hospital in a week to 10 days, said Herbert Huddleston, who performed the surgery at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys.

The ball of Hearn’s right hip was replaced during the procedure, and Huddleston said Hearn was cracking jokes almost immediately afterward.

“He told me, ‘I see my foot is still pointing in the right direction,’” Huddleston said.

Huddleston and others who took part in the surgery said in a news conference that Hearn couldn’t have come through the procedure any better. They proclaimed him fit and strong and said all his vital signs were good. Huddleston called him a “model patient.”

Jack Patterson, Hearn’s cardiologist, said if the accident had happened before Hearn had heart surgery Dec. 19 to repair an aortic valve, there would have been more concern about his health and the rigors of surgery.

But fhis heart is now in good shape and “just about 100% recovered from the heart surgery,” Patterson said.

During the surgery, which began at 4:20 p.m. and was concluded by 5:45, Hearn’s wife, Marge, stayed in an ICU waiting room.

“It was just one of those freak accidents,” she said of Sunday’s incident. “And it could have been worse.”

She said the couple stopped for gas on their way out to dinner. The station has a full-service lane, but Chick chose self-service.

Chick was putting a credit card in the slot when the car started moving forward, Marge said.

Benito Murillo, who was working at the station Sunday night, said Chick ran after the car.

“I think he was worried about his wife,” Murillo said.

Marge said the door on the driver’s side was open and her husband was knocked over while attempting to get back in the car.

“The first thing he said was that he thought his hip was broken,” Marge said.

The car came to rest in some shrubs, and Marge called 911 from inside the station.

Patterson, the cardiologist, said he asked his famous patient before Tuesday’s surgery why he was pumping his own gas.

The response was vintage Hearn.

“I have to save up in order to pay my doctor bills,” he quipped.