Younghoe Koo's infamous field goal blunder for the New York Giants inadvertently saved a man's life last year after it triggered a seizure that led to the discovery of a brain tumor.
The Incident
Back in December, Mark Toothaker, 59, went to the gym and then settled in at home in Lexington, Kentucky, to watch the Giants play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. He never expected what came next. Watching from bed alongside his wife, Malory, who was reading a book, Koo suffered humiliation when he kicked the floor instead of the ball while attempting a field goal, with his gaffe quickly going viral on social media. Rewinding and watching the replay, Toothaker laughed so hard it caused a seizure. 'I've never felt anything like this in my life,' he recalled. 'I felt like I got electrocuted.'
Immediate Response
Malory happens to be a nurse at a rehabilitation hospital working for a brain-injury doctor. After initially thinking her husband was joking, she called 911 and paramedics arrived to get him to a hospital. A CT scan revealed a tennis-ball-sized tumor on the left side of his brain. 'When you hear the news, "You've got a brain tumor," that's what nobody wants to hear,' Malory said.
Surgery and Recovery
Toothaker was transferred to the University of Kentucky's hospital, where the tumor was surgically removed and turned out to be benign. He was home by the end of the week with no lasting damage. On Saturday, he will be at the Churchill Downs as Further Ado - which is owned by Spendthrift Farm, the stallion farm he works at - is set to run in the Kentucky Derby. He is thankful for that missed kick.
'(The) kicker saved my life because it could've happened any other time,' Toothaker told The Associated Press. 'I wholeheartedly believe I was in the right spot at the right time, and he was the trigger for that happening. It was a miracle.'
No Prior Symptoms
Toothaker had no symptoms and no idea the tumor had moved his brain six millimeters to the right. In the months before his seizure, he had driven and flown all over the country as part of his job as stallion season manager, including the previous Saturday to Louisville to see Further Ado win the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. 'I could have had it on a plane, anywhere,' Toothaker said. 'I didn't kill anybody. I didn't run over a family in my Expedition running up and down the road. I guess that would've been the hardest thing for me to live with if somebody would've got hurt out of this. Believe me, as tough as that thing was, as violent as that seizure was, I have no memory of it and I would find it hard to believe that I wouldn't have hurt somebody or hurt myself if I would've been behind a wheel.'
Connection to Football
Toothaker made it a point to watch because he has been friends with then-Giants receiver Wan'Dale Robinson's dad, Dale, for a long time. Robinson went on to become the first player 5-foot-8 or shorter to surpass 1,000 yards receiving since 1989 and got a lucrative contract from the Tennessee Titans. Toothaker said he would love for the 31-year-old Koo - once the most accurate kicker in league history - to be his guest at the Derby, while recognizing that the miss is not exactly a career highlight. The South Korean-American was released by New York just weeks after and is yet to find a new team.
'I know it wasn't his best moment, but it was beyond crazy,' Toothaker said. 'For she and I to be belly-laughing at his expense, which I feel terrible about now, but it all worked out in the end, that for me it couldn't have been a better moment.'
Reflection
Malory said things are very normal for her husband now. 'So many people aren't that fortunate,' she said. 'Really the first indication that he had a problem was the seizure — and to be in your own bed at home, not behind the wheel of a car or traveling, you're just so humbled and feel so blessed and just fortunate that if this had to happen, it was the best-case scenario.'
