Johnson ‘awake and communicating’ after throat surgery

USC RB Stafon Johnson, who underwent invasive throat surgery for more than seven hours yesterday, is in stable condition, according to doctors at the California Hospital Medical Center.

Dr. Gudata Hinika, the hospital’s trauma medical director, admitted that, had the patient not been in such strong physical shape, he might well have died.

“Had that been any one of us, meaning me, we would have not survived,” Hinika said, according to ESPN. “His neck was so solid, so muscular … and the discipline that one learns from being athletic also really helped him to calm down and just do what he needed to do. He took instruction very well. All this combination and his physical fitness contributed to his outcome.”