While he remains hospitalized in an intensive care unit, there is some good news to report on the health of Devon Butler.
Four days after being critically injured in a shooting, the Northern Illinois linebacker’s condition has been upgraded to serious. Butler, who had been listed in critical condition since the shooting, has been visited by a steady stream of family, friends and members of the football program, and appears to be responding well to the treatment of a gunshot wound to his upper back.
“We’re getting positive news on Devon all the time, and that’s the main thing,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “We want to make sure that he’s got a chance to live a healthy life and achieve his goals. Those are all the things we’re hearing back. ... He’s in a lot of pain. Until he can start talking, he’s just kind of nodding and shaking, you know what I mean?
“But a lot of the players went and saw him and he was happy to see the guys. He’s got a little iPad that he can write notes on. So he’s communicating with you. Obviously when you have a surgery like he had, they’re going to keep you in that mode, medically, for a while. So he’s doing well.”
It’s unclear at this point in time what the football future holds for Butler, who started at LB for the Huskies in 2010.