Navy Football Player Severely Injured in Car Accident
Ralph "Rafi" Montalvo remains in a medically-induced coma after a car accident on Thanksgiving evening.
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A Navy football player is in critical condition after he was involved in a serious automobile accident on Thanksgiving night near his home in Miami, according to Navy Sports.
Freshman Ralph "Rafi" Montalvo, Navy's third-string quarterback, was the passenger in a single-vehicle accident. He remains in a medically induced coma at Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami, according to Navy Sports.
"He is improving every day and the entire Navy Football Brotherhood is praying for him and his family," said Scott Strasemeier, Navy's associate athletic director.
Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo flew to Miami on Saturday to be with Montalvo and his family.
Niumatalolo recently promoted Montalvo to third-string quarterback, according to Navy Sports. He was slated to travel to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game on Dec. 8 to support starting quarterback Keenan Reynolds and backup Trey Miller.
Little is known about the cause of the accident at this time, Strasemeier said.
Two midshipmen died this summer in car accidents near their home towns. Austin Zalik, 21, died Aug. 3 when his pickup truck rolled down an embankment and collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania. Nicholas Tarr, 21, died Aug. 9 after his car crashed into a tree near Fort Cooper State Park in Florida.
Kathleen Hopkins
10:38 am on Monday, November 26, 2012
My husband was in a medically-induced coma for a month in 1995. He was a riding his motorcycle and was hit by a car who did not stop at a stop sign. He fully recovered. I hope and pray that Midshipman Montalvo does the same. Thoughts and prayers to him and his family.