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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A five-year study of Canadian university football players suggests that playing on an artificial surface rather than natural grass may increase a football player's risk of injury. Artificial turf is often preferred over grass because of its durability and lower maintenance costs. Also, unlike grass, the surface does not vary according to environmental conditions, while grass can be wet or dry, hard or soft or even frozen depending on the weather. In the current study, however, the risk of injury was as much as two times higher when the game was played or practiced on...

Discrepancies in reports of POW's capture, rescue raise questions Posted: May 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Diana Lynne © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Hollywood writers could not have imagined a more gripping and rousing story as that of the capture of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and the dramatic Special Ops rescue caught on videotape and instigated by an Iraqi lawyer who reportedly put his life on the line for hers. But some question whether elements of the saga are more hype than fact, created to spin the POW's experience to serve political purposes. An avalanche of movie and book offers flooded the Lynch...

the saga of Saving Private Lynch. Branded on to our consciousness by media frenzy, the flawless midnight rescue of 19-year-old Private First Class Jessica Lynch hardly bears repeating even a month after the fact. Precision teams of U.S. Army Rangers and Navy Seals, acting on intelligence information and supported by four helicopter gunships, ended Lynch's nine-day Iraqi imprisonment in true Rambo style, raising America's spirits when it needed it most. All Hollywood could ever hope to have in a movie was there in this extraordinary feat of rescue — except, perhaps, the truth. So say three Nasiriya doctors, two nurses,...

Dr.: Lynch to Be Hospitalized for Weeks By LARRY MARGASAK .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Rescued POW Jessica Lynch will stay at the Army's premier medical facility for at least a few weeks and, like others there who were wounded in Iraq, will have mental and emotional evaluations, the medical center chief said Sunday. ``She seems to be in good spirits,'' said Major Gen. Kevin Kiley, a physician, commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The 19-year-old private first class and some four dozen other wounded soldiers arrived Saturday in the United States after leaving a hospital in...

<p>LANDSTUHL, Germany (AP) Rescued U.S. POW Jessica Lynch is steadily improving and spending less time in bed since she was moved out of intensive care at a military hospital, a spokesman said Thursday.</p> <p>Lynch, a 19-year-old Army private first class from Palestine, W. Va., was moved to a regular ward at Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Wednesday.</p>

Family Not Pressing U.S. POW on Details By COLLEEN BARRY .c The Associated Press LANDSTUHL, Germany (AP) - The family of rescued POW Jessica Lynch said Tuesday her strong will helped her survive captivity, but that they weren't going to press for details of her ordeal until she's ready. Still stunned by their daughter's capture by Iraqi forces and dramatic rescue nine days later, Pfc. Lynch's parents described their relief at finally laying eyes on Jessica in her hospital bed in southwestern Germany. ``We said, 'Hi, Baby, how are you doing?' and she said, 'Fine,''' Gregory Lynch Sr. told reporters...

Father says Lynch in good spirits after POW ordeal LANDSTUHL, Germany, April 8 (Reuters) - The father of U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch, a prisoner of war rescued by American forces in Iraq, said on Tuesday she was in good spirits and only wanted to go home. "Her spirits was real high and we was real glad to see her. We was kinda figurin' it'd be a lot worse," Greg Lynch said outside the hospital that is treating her. Jessica, 19, spent nine days as a POW in Iraq with back injuries, two broken legs, a broken arm, broken foot and...

Russia furious over shooting incident From the International Desk Published 4/6/2003 11:21 AM MOSCOW, April 6 (UPI) -- Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow and his Iraqi counterpart, Abbas Khalaf, Sunday demanding explanations for the shooting incident near Baghdad that left at least five people wounded as a group of Russian diplomats, including the envoy, and journalists headed for Syria. Twenty-three people, including Ambassador Vladimir Titarenko, were traveling in the convoy that came under fire twice, 8 and 15 miles from Baghdad respectively, en route to the Iraqi-Syrian border. The motorcade left Baghdad at 10:30 a.m. Sunday...

POW Father Denies Daughter Shot, Stabbed 2 hours, 47 minutes ago By ALLISON BARKER, Associated Press Writer PALESTINE, W.Va. - The father of rescued POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch said Thursday she was in great spirits following her first surgery and said she had not been shot or stabbed during her ordeal. "We have heard and seen reports that she had multiple gunshot wounds and a knife stabbing. The doctor has not seen any of this," Gregory Lynch Sr. said. "There's no entry (wounds) whatsoever." Lynch said his 19-year-old daughter, who is at a military hospital in Germany, had surgery...

Rescued U.S. soldier put up fierce fight - Wash Post WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - Rescued U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch shot several Iraqi soldiers prior to her capture, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing U.S. officials. The 19-year-old Private First Class continued firing at the Iraqis even after she sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched several other soldiers in her unit die around her, one official told the newspaper. "She was fighting to the death," the official was quoted as saying. "She did not want to be taken alive." Lynch...

POW Reportedly Fought Captors With Gun By JOE COLEMAN .c The Associated Press LANDSTUHL, Germany (AP) - Spirited but hungry, rescued prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch arrived in Germany for treatment of two broken legs and bullet wounds reportedly suffered in a fierce gun battle she waged against her Iraqi captors. The Washington Post reported Thursday that the 19-year-old Army supply clerk shot several Iraqi soldiers during the March 23 ambush that resulted in her capture. She kept firing even after she had several gunshot wounds, finally running out of ammunition, the newspaper said, citing unidentified U.S. officials. ``She...

<p>According to the Cable News Network ticker, Private First Class Jessica Lynch has been moved to intensive care as a precaution in Landstuhl, Germany to monitor fever, increased heart rate and any possible infection.</p> <p>Not mentioned whether her family did visit her in the ICU ward when thye came.</p>

Family of Rescued POW Arrives in Germany By JOSEPH COLEMAN .c The Associated Press LANDSTUHL, Germany (AP) - The American POW rescued by U.S. commandos in a daring raid in Iraq was reunited with her family Sunday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. ``I can't wait to see her,'' Pfc. Jessica Lynch's mother, Deadra Lynch, said before leaving for Germany. Lynch's father, two siblings and a cousin also flew over from West Virginia. Their meeting comes a day after the family learned that eight members of Lynch's unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, were killed in the same ambush that...

'I'm an American Soldier, Too': Central Command Releases Details of POW's RescueBy Nicole Winfield Associated Press WriterPublished: Apr 5, 2003 CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar (AP) - "Jessica Lynch," a U.S. soldier called out. "We are United States soldiers, and we're here to protect you and take you home." On her hospital bed, Pfc. Jessica Lynch peered out from the sheet with which she'd been covering her head in fear. "I'm an American soldier, too," she replied. U.S. Central Command on Saturday released the dramatic details of Lynch's rescue, as the 19-year-old supply clerk, now safely at a U.S. military hospital...

Pfc. Jessica Lynch was beaten more severely than first reports indicated, doctors said yesterday. Besides two broken legs and a broken arm, the 19-year-old Army truck driver suffered fractures to her right foot, right ankle and a disk in her spine, and had a gash on her head. Lynch underwent spinal surgery Thursday to repair the fractured disk that had been pressing painfully on a nerve, doctors at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany reported yesterday. "The prognosis for her recovery is excellent," said Col. David Rubenstein, the medical center commander. Officials have refused to say why so many of...

Family members of Pfc. Jessica Lynch were planning to leave for Germany today for a reunion with the 19-year-old Wirt County native who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital, several officials said. As the family was preparing to leave, a military briefing at Central Command in Qatar released more details about her rescue, telling how she at first hid under a sheet and then was relieved to see U.S. Special Operations forces had come to her aid. Sen. Jay Rockefeller had expedited passports for the Lynch family and had them at his Washington, D.C., home, said Rockefeller spokesman Mark Ferrell....

POW Family Denies Daughter Shot, Stabbed By ALLISON BARKER .c The Associated Press PALESTINE, W.Va. (AP) - The father of rescued POW Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch said Thursday that she was in great spirits following her first surgery and denied reports she was shot and stabbed during her captivity in Iraq. ``We have heard and seen reports that she had multiple gunshot wounds and a knife stabbing. The doctor has not seen any of this,'' Gregory Lynch Sr. said.

MARINE COMBAT HEADQUARTERS, Iraq - The Iraqi man who tipped U.S. Marines to the location of American POW Jessica Lynch said Thursday he did so after he saw her Iraqi captor slap her twice as she lay wounded in a hospital. "A person, no matter his nationality, is a human being," the tipster, a 32-year-old lawyer whose wife was a nurse at the hospital, said in an interview at Marines' headquarters, where he, his wife and daughter are being treated as heroes and guests of honor. "He is an extremely courageous man who should serve as an inspiration to all...

MARINE COMBAT HEADQUARTERS, Iraq -- The Iraqi man who tipped U.S. Marines to the location of American POW Jessica Lynch said Thursday he did so after he saw her Iraqi captor slap her twice as she lay wounded in a hospital. "A person, no matter his nationality, is a human being," the tipster, a 32-year-old lawyer whose wife was a nurse at the hospital, said in an interview at the Marines' headquarters, where he, his wife and daughter are being treated as heroes and guests of honor. "He is an extremely courageous man who should serve as an inspiration to...

Iraqi Man Risked All to Help Free American Soldier By Peter Baker Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, April 4, 2003; Page A01 MARINE COMBAT HEADQUARTERS, Iraq, April 3 -- Mohammed, a gregarious 32-year-old Iraqi lawyer, went by the hospital in Nasiriyah one day last week to visit his wife, who worked there as a nurse, when he noticed the ominous presence of security agents. Curious, he asked around, and a doctor friend told him an American soldier was being held there. Something made him want to go see. The doctor took him to a first-floor emergency wing where he pointed...