Codiñera survives colon surgery in Italian hospital

If not for his excellent physical condition, Jerry Codiñera’s dead.

This was the message Jerry’s family received from the doctors who performed the emergency surgery on the FedEx veteran player after suffering a critical colon injury while on a business trip in Italy.

"Kung hindi daw malakas ang katawan ni Jerry, wala na siya because of terrible loss of blood. Nag-seizure na nga raw," said baseball great Boy Codinera — Jerry’s father.

In a text message to The STAR yesterday, Jerry’s wife Jean said about 20 centimeters of Jerry’s right colon was cut off in the emergency surgery done Thursday. But Jean added Jerry is now in stable condition and is recuperating well.

The Codiñera couple was aboard the Eurorail going to Italy from Germany when Jerry suddenly fell ill then experienced "mega bleeding" from his behind. Luckily, the Eurorail had a medical team which attended to Jerry and ordered the train to make an emergency stop so that the player could be rushed to the nearest hospital.

"Jerry had a congenital defect in blood vessels in right colon that developed ulcers. That caused the mega bleeding," said Jean.

Jerry was operated on by five doctors at the Azienda Policlinico Umberto Primo in Rome.

"It was a public teaching hospital with a very efficient and very expert medical team led by Dr. Modini. Also with the team were Drs. Petroni, Brachini, Benvenuto and Antoniozzi. They’re very understanding and patient with me. The language barrier never became a problem because they would patiently listen and answer my questions," said Jean.

"We would like to thank these doctors and nurses, our families and friends who prayed with us. And I don’t want to forget Silvio, a total stranger, probably an angel, who never left our side from the train," Jean added.

"Mabuti malakas si Jerry, kung hindi maaga siyang nawala," sighed Boy.

The older Codiñera said his son has been strong physically from his birth.

"Twelve pounds siya noong ipinanganak. Tapos one week pa lang, mukhang eight months old na sa laki," said Boy of Jerry. "Yung pediatrician niya ang sabi sa amin malakas ang bone structures niya." Boy doesn’t remember Jerry, now 37, suffering any ailment except in 1990 when he got afflicted with a hepatitis traced on a food he had eaten in the province. That ailment cost him a stint with the very first all-pro team the country sent to the Asian Games in Beijing. His spot in that Robert Jaworski-mentored team went to Zaldy Realubit.

Jerry and former Purefoods teammate Alvin Patrimonio are the most senior citizens in the PBA now. Both entered the league in 1988 and are to play their 16th season next campaign.

But with the surgery, Jerry is likely to sit out the transition tournament that will be played before the PBA finally shifts to its new two-conference season starting in October.

Jerry’s playing contract with FedEx is actually expiring at the end of the year. But FedEx team manager Lito Alvarez said they intend to extend Jerry’s pact.

"We’ll see if he’s willing to play for one more year. He’s still one of our five best players. The best in terms of work ethic," said Alvarez.

For the record, Jerry is only 32 short of tying Abet Guidaben’s record as the all-time leader in offensive rebounds with 2,373.

Jerry is also among the tops in all-time scoring, shot blocks and total number of rebounds. — Nelson Beltran