Ohio Referee Has Leg Amputated After High School Football Scrimmage Injury: ‘I Was a Mess’

Jim Abbott lost his limb following the incident at Withrow University High School on Aug. 14

NEED TO KNOW

• High school football referee Jim Abbott lost his right leg after suffering a severe injury on Aug. 14 in Ohio
• He was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Clifton, where doctors found he had severed the main artery that supplies blood to the lower leg
• Abbott is undergoing physical therapy and his family hopes that he will eventually be fitted with a prosthetic limb

A high school football referee is recovering after he lost his leg in a “life-altering” incident in Ohio. 

Jim Abbott was officiating a high school football scrimmage in Cincinnati on Aug. 14 when he was “brought down” during a play, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his family. 

A cornerback missed a tackle and landed on him during the game at Withrow University High School, according to Local 12 WKRC-TV and Cleveland 19 News.

Imaging showed Abbott had “extensive damage” to his right knee and the artificial hardware he had placed in there years ago, per the fundraiser, which has now surpassed its $30,000 goal. 

“The force turned the right knee, the artificial knee, almost into, like, a weapon. It shredded anything and everything inside my leg, and I was a mess,” he told Local 12 WKRC-TV. 

Abbott, who has been officiating games for over 30 years, was then taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Clifton, where doctors found he had severed the main artery that supplies blood to the lower leg.

Medics then “immediately” took him in for surgery in an “attempt to stabilize the knee and control bleeding,” the fundraiser said. 

However, Abbott experienced complications during the operation, which meant he had “significant” blood loss. Surgeons then decided to stop the procedure until he was more stable, per the page.

The medical teams kept him in the surgical ICU until the following morning, when they made the decision to return him to the operating room for an above-the-knee amputation.

This was because Abbott suffered a combination of “lack of blood flow to the muscles, and the inability to repair the veins in his leg,” per the page. 

Abbott did not initially realize his leg had been amputated when he woke up. 

“And the first thing, I looked at my sister and my wife, and I said, ‘Becky, did they save the leg?’ And she said, ‘No,’ “ Abbott told Local 12 WKRC-TV. “At some point, I guess it was the leg or me.”

It is understood that the referee is currently completing weeks of inpatient physical therapy before returning home. 

“The goal is for Jim to eventually be fitted for a prosthetic, followed by another round of rehabilitation,” said his niece, Ashley Sevier, who set up the page on behalf of Abbott.

“Those of you that know Jim know how much of an active individual he is whether it be on a field or court officiating a sporting event, going to a Buckeyes game, grabbing a Shiner Bock (or 5) with his OU Hockey alum, or spending time with Becky and his dogs Mayhem and Havoc on our family’s property in Adams County,” she added.

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She said that her uncle will need some lifestyle changes for the “foreseeable future,” but added that the family remains “optimistic” that Abbott will be able to return to refereeing the sport he loves with time and some “badass medical technology.”

Sevier set up the page as Abbott will be unable to work over the coming months, with his wife Becky taking time off from her job to support him.

“This will take a large toll on them mentally, physically, emotionally, but also financially. There will most certainly be expenses that arise that we cannot yet anticipate,” she wrote.

Sevier urged those who could not donate money to instead donate blood, as Abbott received multiple blood transfusions which “undoubtedly helped save his life.”

“Lastly, I kindly request you please keep both Jim AND Becky (as well as our entire family) in your thoughts and prayers as they learn to navigate this very unexpected journey, and remind them that they aren’t going through it alone,” she said. 

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