‘Kevin Gibbons, the neurosurgeon who performed Everett’s surgery with Cappuccino and oversaw his care at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital in Buffalo, downplayed the role of hypothermia in his recovery. "Cold [saltwater] didn’t hurt Everett," he says, "but it was certainly not the only reason he got better." According to Gibbons, the initial hypothermia treatment did not lower Everett’s body temperature: His temperature was 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 degrees Celsius), just barely lower than normal, when he arrived at the hospital. It was only post-surgery when Everett received another cooling treatment that his temperature decreased significantly to 92 degrees Fahrenheit. By that time, his neck had been realigned and he had already regained some mobility in his legs and ankles. One important factor may be that, although severe, Everett’s injury was incomplete. Cappuccino recognized that Everett still had some sensation remaining in his lower extremities after sustaining the injury. In trauma cases such as these, Gibbons says, patients actually have a 50 to 75 percent chance of recovering.’