Daniel Franco moved to rehab facility

Daniel Franco, who was injured as he suffered a brain injury in a fight on June 10th has been moved to a rehabilitation facility, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Al Franco, Daniel’s father and trainer, said his son was transported on Friday but that the 90-minute drive “was draining on him, and it has taken a few days for him to recover.”

Al Franco added, “Daniel began therapy on Saturday and will continue to have physical therapy every day for three hours per day. They are giving him morphine every few hours because he is having severe headaches and often. So he’s been sleeping more. How long he will be here at the center, we don’t know yet. He needs to get stronger, and the only source of nourishment he is getting is through a tube in his stomach. So please keep him in your prayers.”

Al Franco said Daniel, 25, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, has been able to walk and that the family hopes to soon take him home to a facility in California in early August. He is making progress, Al Franco said, but it’s going to be a long process.

“His motor skills are slow,” he said. “He struggles making the simplest movements. Reaching or grabbing things is a chore. His speech is slurred as well. But he will improve every day and get stronger. It’s only a matter of time. His mom says that she sees him getting better every day, motor skills improving. Just time and prayers.”

Al Franco said his son’s first full day of therapy was Monday.

“It was exciting to see as well as heartbreaking,” he said. “He is learning to walk, speak, count and do some of the simplest things imaginable.

“I am grateful that he is well enough to be at his point after suffering such a serious injury and going through the type of surgery he did. However, as his father, to have such a world-class athlete struggle like this is heartbreaking. But he is doing an amazing job and the fighter in him makes him push harder than what he should be. He wants to run, not walk, but that’s his character — go big or go home. He is improving.”