BATON ROUGE - A Southern University football player had successful spinal surgery in Georgia after an injury on the field Saturday.

Devon Gales remains in a hospital in Athens where he can now move his upper body. Devon was carted off the field after a collision during a kickoff in the third quarter against the University of Georgia.

Devon suffered several fractures in his neck in what doctors describe as a "burst injury." Dr. Greg Fautheree of the NeuroMedical Center in Baton Rouge says Devon's vertebrae exploded causing an impact against the spinal cord.

"He'll have a lot of physical therapy. The spinal cord is one of the slowest and poorest healing organs in the body," said Dr. Fautheree. "If he recovers function it will be extremely slow and will involve a whole lot of therapy."

Devon is from Baton Rouge and went to Central High School. Central football head coach Sid Edwards says Devon is one of the greatest young men he has ever coached. Edwards went on to say Devon is very humble and hard working.

"A guy, a warrior like Devon Gales...I mean my money is on Devon," said Edwards. "He's going to attack this as ferociously as he attacked the football field, and he's going to have plenty of love and support from all the families, you know, and all the brothers he played football with, everybody that loves him."

The University of Georgia paid to fly Devon's family to Athens. You can send well wishes and cards to: SU Athletics c/o Devon Gales, P.O. Box 9942, Baton Rouge, LA 70813.