Posted on 02/02/2005 7:44:10 AM PST by wjersey
For James Phillips' sake, the Eagles need to win the Super Bowl.
Or his sacrifice was all for naught.
"They better win the Super Bowl after all I went through," Phillips said tonight from his hospital bed, mopping the sweat from his brow with bandages that are wrapped around both of his hands. He said doctors have told him that they are going to have to cut off the tips of the pinky, ring and middle finger on his left hand due to severe frostbite.
Phillips, of Marcus Hook, worked for 30 hours shoveling snow at Lincoln Financial Field the night before the Jan. 23 NFC championship game against the Falcons, and then, as a reward for his hard work, stayed to watch the game. And he did it all without wearing gloves.
"I'm kind of an Eagles aficionado so I overlooked it. My fanaticism for the Eagles is going to cost me something, but if I would have thought that it would be something like frostbite I would have used precaution," Phillips said.
A representative for the Eagles was not available for comment tonight.
Phillips, 48, was one of hundreds of adrenaline-pumped Eagles fans who braved the foot of snow that fell on the city that weekend to clean the field for fans and players.
Phillips said he heard a radio advertisement that the shovelers could earn $8.50 an hour. He said he didn't realize that he'd be invited to watch the game from the field.
"We live and die Eagles in this city. I mean there were people on e-bay paying $1,300 for those seats and I got to see it for free," Phillips said.
After the game he rushed to a SEPTA bus on Broad Street with his right hand bleeding. He couldn't even pay his fare. He sat on the bus, using his left hand to catch the blood dripping from his right hand. He saw a police officer at Broad and Cumberland and asked the officer to escort him to the hospital.
"I felt like someone locked me into a freezer," he said.
Now Phillips will be watching the Super Bowl from his bed at Temple University Hospital. He will have to fidget with a remote control or get a nurse to change the channel for him. But he still smiles when he romanticizes about who will be named most valuable player: McNabb, Owens or Westbrook.
"Fanaticism is something that takes on a whole different form," he said, shaking his head.
How did he get frost bite on those fingers? Was he on a date with Hillary?
Stupid.
I listened to my father about wearing gloves shoveling snow when I was 7.
This guy was an idiot not to wear protective, warm gloves doing that kind of work in that kind of weather. Sorry about his plight, but he has no one to blame but himself and, no, it doesn't put the Eagles in a position to win one for the moron.
I assume the Eagles sell gloves at the stadium. What the heck is wrong with this guy?
And he did it all without wearing gloves... He saw a police officer at Broad and Cumberland and asked the officer to escort him to the hospital.
My word, what a retard. Not only didn't he wear gloves, but he took the bus instead of the subway and rode right by three hospitals without getting off.
What's that line about a fool and his fingers being quickly separated?
Owl_Eagle
”Unleash the Hogs of Peace.”
P.J. O'Rourke Parliament of Whores
I'm of the opinion that this is one guy I don't want on my team. Sorry for his loss, but stupid is as stupid does.
I grew up in the tropics, and knew better when I moved to the states to wear gloves during my first winter!
Cheers!
A $5.00 pair of gloves would have saved this man's hands. Yes, he's a moron. But the owners of the stadium are going to be sued to blue blazes by this guy, and they will lose. You can't hire somebody and not provide necessary safety equipment.
Stupid all around. Big heaping mounds of stupidity.
Eagles 14
These are the guys who booed Santa, throw snowballs and batteries at players, beat up fans of opposing teams, and cheered when Michael Irvin suffered the neck injury that ended his career.
Screw 'em.
As if anymore was needed, further evidence surfaces proving the conjecture that Eagles fans are morons.
You think it'll be that close?
heh, only if TO is playing
An inspiring story. Let's all give Philip a big hand - so to speak.
Go Patriots!
They may have gotten some of the workers from halfway homes? The man is hurting but he is also 2 bricks short of a load.
Why didn't he just put his hands down his pants?
Frostbite effects the brain too? Poor guy.
All the more reason to root for the Patriots.
This guy is 48. Let's replace Eagles & frostbite with boyfriend/girlfriend/hookup with HIV/parenthood...
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