Hawk fan puts game ahead of hospital

Apparently nothing stops Carol Walden from enjoying a Hawkeye game, not even a broken hip.

Saturday's game against Wisconsin was close, and Walden, a lifelong Hawk fan, didn't want to miss a single play.

“I was hurrying back because halftime was over, and I slipped in the kitchen and fell flat on my left side,” said Walden, 71, of Mount Vernon.

She called the doctor, who recommended a trip to the emergency room.

“My husband said, ‘Well, let's go,' and I said, ‘No, I have to see the Hawkeyes win,' ” said Walden.

“By that time, the Hawks were catching up, so we had to watch the end of the game,” added her husband, Don.

After the game, no ambulance would do. Walden made her husband drive her to Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, so she could listen to the postgame radio show.

One surgery and four screws later, Walden is recovering from a broken hip. Medical crews say her “delay of game” didn't affect her injury.

“They didn't think I was that crazy. A lot of them are Hawkeye fans, so they understood,” she said.

Walden, who's never attended a game at Kinnick, concedes “it was probably silly, except that everything turned out fine and the Hawks won.”

Kelly Davis, KCRG-TV