Getting Better

It’s been two weeks since Fly left The Summit Hospital in Hermitage, near Nashville, and he’s feeling pretty good these days in Brooklyn. Except for a couple of things.

“I’m getting all kinds of tests now,” Fly said Thursday, Feb. 26. “My fiancée has got me like a Guinea pig.”

Fly says he’s getting stronger every day and looks forward to getting back to work at The Brownsville Rec Centerin Brooklyn.

His four-day stay at The Summit, where he was vaguely diagnosed as having a virus, was made more comfortable by the nurses and staff.

“They were so sweet, so nice and caring,” Fly said. “It was unbelievable. I didn’t mind staying in a place like that. The nurses were so nice. They’re rude up here. I told my fiancée, that’s the sweetest place I’ve been in my life. They really took care of me around the clock. If I get sick, I wish they could fly me down there. That’s what you need when you’re sick, and they did it so well.”

Whatever bug he picked up was just a bump in the road for Fly.

“I told my fiancée: I’m a Dinosaur, I ain’t goin’ anywhere,” Fly said.

Back home

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Fly is back at home, feeling good, and ready to start working again with the many kids in his basketball program at Brownsville Recreation Center.

It is two weeks after Fly’s No. 35 jersey was retired Feb. 5 by Austin Peay State University during a game against Tennessee-Martin. Fly was in Clarksville for all the ceremonies and, former teammates, friends, fans, and media gave him an overwhelming response.

“It was unimaginable, unbelievable,” Fly says. “There was still so much love in that town. I will never forget it, never in my life.”

For Fly, it was a hectic five days, starting Feb. 4 when he arrived at Nashville International until Feb. 8 when he was scheduled to depart to LaGuardia International in New York.

As was reported, Fly was hospitalized at The Summit Medical Center in Hermitage, a suburb of Nashville, about the time his Feb. 8 flight was taking off toward New York.

Fly spent the next four days at The Summit, resting and recovering, and during that time became a hidden celebrity in the hospital. Word quickly spread that the Fly was in the house. After a few days, Fly was ready to go home, so away he went, catching a flight Thursday night, Feb. 12.

Fly says he is feeling better every day and making all his scheduled visits to see his personal doctor. There is much on his schedule in the future – including a return trip to Clarksville.

“I can’t wait to get back,” Fly said. “It was unbelievable.”

Update From Fly

By Dave Link

For TheFly35.com

NASHVILLE -- Fly is sleeping comfortably and peacefully, and even has a slight smile on his face. He may be having dreams of this past wonderful weekend, starting Thursday night when his jersey was retired by Austin Peay and continuing with festivities through Sunday.

It is Monday night, 9 p.m. CT, Feb. 9, 2009, and Fly is in a Nashville hospital. He will be here until he is completely recovered and ready to go back to Brooklyn, whether it's in two days or whatever. He is in the best of care.

Fly had a weekend he will always remember.

"Incredible," Fly said Sunday on our way to the Nashville airport. "Absolutely incredible. I've never seen anything like it. Unreal."

Fly felt the love this past weekend that first drew him to Austin Peay and Clarksville in 1972. He says he will always love Clarksville and hopes to return every year.

He will be back.

Count on it.

Keep Fly in your thoughts and prayers, as he does for so many others.