A University of Iowa intramural basketball player who left the Field House on a stretcher on Sunday night is recuperating after dislocating and fracturing his left shoulder.

UI sophomore Jay Burger was fighting for an offensive rebound when he got caught in the air between two opposing players. The first bumped Burger and caused his arm to twist; the second hit Burger’s exposed limb, popping the shoulder out of its socket.

"I felt a crack," Burger told *The Daily Iowan* on Monday. "Worst pain of my life — I was screaming and saying some unfriendly words … at that point, I had my arm diagonally away from my body on the ground, and moving it at all created the worst pain."

Burger said he felt another crack when he tried to stand up; he had suffered a minor fracture in his shoulder.

An intramural referee called for trainers, who in turn called the paramedics. Burger was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where doctors popped his shoulder back into place after X-raying the joint and giving him painkilling injections.

"It was kind of scary; the doctor goes, ‘Oh my god, I’m sorry but that’s one of the worst dislocations I’ve ever seen,’ " Burger said. "I looked over, and my shoulder looked like someone had played with it like it was Play-Doh."

Burger said he was told the fracture will heal by itself, but he’ll wear a sling for two weeks to protect his shoulder. He expects to be healthy by the time his intramural team, Phi Delta Theta, enters the playoffs.

— by Seth Roberts