Accident came 30 minutes before Bonani’s shift ended

Posted Jul 20, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Jul 20, 2009 at 12:08 AM

Who says timing isn’t everything? USF kicker Maikon Bonani accident at Busch Gardens occurred 30 minutes before his shift was to end Saturday afternoon. And it also came on his final scheduled work day of the summer.

Also, a Busch Gardens spokeswoman told me the gondola’s door was unlocked when it left the station but locked by the time it reached the next station. Park officials don’t know if Bonani locked the door while dangling from the car 35-feet above the ground. “It was either the employee or the guests,” spokeswoman Jill Revelle said.

As far as Bonani playing this season, it doesn’t look likely, said a Tampa doctor, who specializes in sports injuries.

A fractured vertebra, specifically the T12 vertebra which it’s believed to be, usually takes six weeks to heal as long as it’s a non-displaced fracture, said Doug Price, a Tampa chiropractor who specializes in sports injuries. Individuals who suffer this injury have very limited activity for the first three to four weeks, Price said.

With practice less than three weeks away and the season opener less than seven weeks away, it wouldn’t make sense to rush Bonani back and risk aggravating the injury, especially when you have senior kicker Delbert Alvardo returning. Plus if Bonani is redshirted this season, he would still have his three years of eligibility remaining.