Doctors said he would risk paralysis if he ever tried to go out on a football field and tackle somebody again.
If Irvin continued to play he would risk permanent paralysis.
At 20 percent, he warned, the Soviet Union risks economic paralysis.
Doctors told him he risked paralysis if he continued playing.
Imagine how we felt when the doctors told us after the 1994 season that Sterling Sharpe should retire rather than risk paralysis from contact.
He arrived sitting up in his stretcher, cringing in pain and risking paralysis.
Defensive players are most at risk, but others also risk paralysis by lowering their heads at contact.
Although I could not move quickly without risking permanent paralysis, Vickie immediately sprang into action.
To move him now would be to risk permanent paralysis.
He never started and appeared in just eight games, before this injury forced him to retire, in order to avoid risking paralysis.