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Perry Satullo: heavyweight champ in ring of life
By PETE LAMONT, MOP Squad Sports Editor-in-Chief
Aug 11, 2004 - 2:08:00 AM

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In this era of greedy athletes, drug scandals, and athletes spending more time working on legal defenses instead of playing defense, it's always refreshing to hear about an athlete who did the right thing for all the right reasons. I've had a short list of these bright spots in the sports world. Recently, I added a name to this list: Perry Satullo.

Perry Staullo (aka Saturn)... A true hero

In April 2004, Satullo (also known by his ring name, Perry Saturn) was driving his girlfriend to work. It was simply a typical day in Satullo's life. Unfortunately, it wouldn't remain typical for long.

Hearing a disturbance outside of his car, Satullo got out to investigate. He soon discovered the source of the disturbance: two men were grabbing a woman and raping her. Satullo, a former Army Ranger, didn't hesitate. He got involved.

Satullo helped the woman escape with no further harm, however, during the melee, one of the rapists shot Satullo in the neck three times with a .25 caliber handgun.

Can you imagine being shot 3 times in the neck?

Now imagine surviving.

According to recently published reports, Satullo had a steel plate and several stainless steel screws inserted into his neck. His C-5, C-6, & C-7 vertebrae were badly damaged.

Can you imaginge surviving?

Now imagine wrestling.

Satullo survived the devestating injuries, and will return to the wrestling ring in a show currently scheduled for September 17 in New York City. (This return show is being advertised by USA Pro Wrestling on their web site).

What impresses me more than the recovery, however, is that Satullo didn't ask for heroism from the wrestling community.

Despite reports that he did not have health insurance and has accrued massive hospital bills, Satullo didn't allow anyone to ask for money for him. In fact, he asked for his injuries to be kept private, which is why many people never even heard about the shooting. It's only been announced now, months after it happened, to promote the wrestling show.

That's impressive to me, because it's possible these injuries would be enough to get Satullo back on WWE as a hero. But he didn't use it for his own gain. Instead, he kept his pain to himself.

Perry Satullo has now been added to a very short list I keep to myself, of the true heroes of professional sports. In July '00, Scott "Bam-Bam" Bigelow suffered second-degree burns over forty percent of his body, when he rescued three children from a brushfire in New Jersey. In April, 2004, Pat Tillman, who had left the Arizona Cardinals to serve as an Army Ranger in Iraq was killed in the line of duty.

Satullo, Bigelow, & Tillman, among others, proved that there are heroes in sports, not just because they wave the American flag or get the fans to cheer them, but because they risked their lives to help others. I can't imagine a better way to be a hero.


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