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Suburban Coach Hit By Shot Put Could Be Released From Hospital Soon

(CBS) -- An Aurora shotput coach hit in the head by one of the 12 pound steel balls at a track meet in Elgin last Friday may go home from the hospital soon.

Coach Ed DeGeeter from Marmion Academy, who was critically injured, talked with CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez in this Original Report.

He's bruised and bandaged, with a fractured skull. But the coach is lucky to be alive.

"I was off to the side sector when a kid tossed. The shot put came off at an odd angle and hit me in the head," said DeGeeter. "Next thing I know I'm in the hospital… in the ICU"

DeGeeter doesn't remember anything else, but others who were there do.

There was a lot of panic because the 12 pound steel balls, used in war in ancient times, can be deadly.

Schaumburg High School student Armando Arrellanos said it was "frightening" and that DeGeeter "had to be a tough guy."

The tough guy has a soft spot for the kid who threw the errant shot.

"It's devastating probably for him, hitting somebody. Unfortunately he didn't finish the competition, which I feel real bad about," said DeGeeter.

DeGeeter hopes that young man gets back into the swing of things as quickly as he hopes to.

He says he still needs another MRI and some vision testing but is hoping to be released from the hospital Wednesday.

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