RON SPRINGS COMA

Janet St. James reports

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DALLAS - Ron Springs, the man fans watched on the football field as a Dallas Cowboys in the '80s and who triumphed over diabetes, is in a coma. He has been that way for more than 12 months.

Now, News 8 has exclusive access to depositions in a case that has revealed disturbing details of what happened the day before he slipped into a coma.

"You know, he'll open up his eyes," said friend Everson Walls. "Sometimes it's like he can hear you because he follows your voice ... He moves often. He'll cough. He'll yawn."

Walls said that is why he still has hope for Springs.

On September 9, 2007, Walls and Springs, both former Cowboys, celebrated at the Texas Stadium in what seemed a happy ending to a long road they had walked together. Walls had donated a kidney to Springs, who suffered from diabetes.

Weeks after the successful transplant, Springs returned to Medical City Dallas Hospital to have a small cyst on his left arm removed. He flat-lined as he was put under anesthesia.

"I think it's important for people to understand that if this can happen to a football hero like Ron Springs, then it can certainly happen to them," said attorney Les Weisbrod.

News 8 was given exclusive access to video depositions taken by Weisbrod, the attorney representing the Springs family in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Dr. Joyce Abraham was just one month into private practice when she was assigned anesthesia for Springs. Like the vast majority of patients, Springs didn't choose his own anesthesiologist. Abraham, who had worked with the surgeon several times before, was assigned to the case by her anesthesiology group.

In fact, Springs met Abraham for the first time just minutes before surgery. She admits she didn't even look at the cyst, which was no larger than a fingernail.

"And you had no idea that it was such a small wound prior to the time you induced general anesthesia?" Weisbrod asked during the deposition.

"I did not know the dimensions of the wound, no," she responded.

In the video, Abraham goes on to say she, alone, decided the best option for anesthesia. In her pre-op meeting with Springs, she never discussed less invasive options - including conscious sedation or a local numbing agent.

"As a trained anesthesiologist for three years and being out in practice for less than 30 days, based on my training and what I was trained to do, I did look at Mr. Springs [and] decide which was the best options for him and went with what I believed were the best options for him," she said.

How far in advance should you pick your anesthesiologist? News 8 asked that question to renown Baylor Dallas anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Ramsay, who has no connection to the Springs' case.

"As soon as you know you're going to have surgery," he said.

Ramsay said not only can one people pick their own anesthesiologist, but he recommends it. He said meeting the doctor just minutes before going under the knife is generally not adequate. Patients should talk to the anesthesiologist at the least the night before, he said.

"These are the people who are keeping you well, stable [and] keeping you alive during the surgery," he said.

In court documents and at the deposition, Abraham has denied wrongdoing.

"Everything I did that day was appropriate," she said.

Her attorney, William Chamblee, said their medical experts say "the outcome could not have been anticipated or foreseen."

But Walls said he believes the case can be an important lesson to other patients. He said he also didn't know his anesthesiologist before he donated his kidney. It's an oversight he said he won't make again.

"Because after all, they can make a mistake and they'll go on to the next patient," he said. "If I'm that patient that they make the mistake on, I don't go on."

As for Springs, his body is going on despite brain damage.

E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com