EP 2 - The Quarterback and The Con Artist

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Johnathan Walton Media – EP 2: The Quarterback and The Con Artist
Episode Title: The Pain of Being Alive
Release Date: September 10, 2025
Host: Johnathan Walton
Main Guests: Eric Kramer, Dylan Kramer, Anna Durgan, Chris German, Dr. Mark Kerner, Robert Espinosa

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Overview

This episode delves into the harrowing personal journey of former NFL quarterback Eric Kramer, whose struggle with depression, stemming in part from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), leads to a meticulously planned suicide attempt. Through raw and candid conversations with Eric, his loved ones, and medical professionals, host Johnathan Walton explores the hidden pain of mental illness, the impact of CTE on athletes, and the resilience required to survive personal tragedy—culminating in a near-death experience that forever alters the lives of everyone involved.

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Key Discussion Points & Timeline

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1. The Hidden Depression of Eric Kramer

[02:07 – 04:05]

• Eric Kramer describes his secret search for a way out:
  "I remember researching online, what's the best way to kill yourself?" (Eric Kramer, [02:27])
• Friends and family—including Anna Durgan and Dylan Kramer—reveal their shock, recalling how well Eric masked his suffering.
• Even his coaches and teammates were oblivious:
  "I had no inkling... that he was battling depression." (Chicago Bears coach Dave Wanstadt, [03:01])

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2. CTE and Its Impact on Mental Health

[01:07 – 07:35]

• The segment examines the role of CTE, discussing the disconnection between outward appearance and inner turmoil.
• Dylan Kramer reflects:
  "He was isolating... just a complete shell of himself... the tricky part about this whole CTE thing is... it's also like little stuff—how do you connect with people?" (Dylan Kramer, [06:44])

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3. Descent and Preparation: The Lead-up to the Suicide Attempt

[08:11 – 12:29]

• Eric shares detail about his methodical planning, echoing imagery from "Shawshank Redemption":
  "Every time I've watched that movie... that particular scene I can identify with." (Eric Kramer, [08:45])
• He quietly arranges his financial affairs and leaves handwritten letters for loved ones.

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4. The Night of the Attempt

[12:29 – 14:47]

• August 18, 2015: Eric checks into a motel, sends a chilling final text to Chris German, his longtime friend and detective.
• Chris recalls the moment of realization:
  "I knew exactly what that meant, so I immediately tried to call him... full panic." (Chris German, [13:46])
• As Chris attempts to intervene from 2,000 miles away, Eric shoots himself—miraculously surviving.

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5. The Immediate Aftermath and Rescue

[14:47 – 17:35]

• Chris German calls the motel, the sheriff, and manages a coordinated response: "He answered... He was audible, but he wasn't really talking. He was groaning." (Chris German, [14:47])
• Eric, barely conscious, complies and is rescued just in time: "Apparently I got up and went to the door and from there I don't know what happened." (Eric Kramer, [16:41])
• Friends and family frantically search for Eric, overwhelmed with guilt and worry.

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6. Hospitalization and Initial Recovery

[21:01 – 30:12]

• Dr. Mark Kerner explains the medical realities of Eric’s survival, detailing the bullet’s trajectory and life-saving emergency intervention: "Eyes were swollen shut, nose was bleeding profusely... My goal at that point is just to stop the bleeding." (Dr. Mark Kerner, [22:32])
• Eric is admitted under a false name for privacy and security, making it difficult for loved ones to find him: "He was brought in as a John Doe." (Dr. Kerner, [24:04])
• Anna Durgan sneaks into the hospital to see Eric:
  (On sneaking in) "I just knock into the critical care unit. When someone opened the door. I walked in. Don't even ask." (Anna Durgan, [25:39])

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7. A Family Reeling from the Aftermath

[27:10 – 30:12]

• Dylan sees his father for the first time post-surgery: "His head was an actual bowling ball... I didn't recognize him." (Dylan Kramer, [27:10])
• A subtle but profound moment of recognition occurs when Eric tries to react to Dylan's voice: "He hears my voice and, like, starts to spring out of the bed... So he recognized you immediately." (Jonathan Walton/Dylan Kramer, [28:27])
• The physical and cognitive damage is immense. Eric must relearn the very basics: "They basically said he has to learn everything again and you have to think of him like a baby." (Anna Durgan, [30:12])

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Notable Quotes

• Eric Hipple (on athletes hiding pain):
  "Because once they reach that decision, they become experts at hiding their plans." ([04:09])
• Eric Kramer (on planning):
  "Keeping it from you is actually the goal... you get good at... being depressed and not letting anybody know you're depressed." ([04:58])
• Jonathan Walton (on the odds):
  "Eric Kramer has spent a lifetime beating the odds on the field. And now in the most important game, the game of life, he was down, but he was not out." ([20:44])
• Dr. Mark Kerner (on survival):
  "If it was a little bit farther back, it would have nailed the optic nerves and he could have easily been blinded." ([22:34])
• Anna Durgan (in Eric's hospital room):
  "I just whispered in his ear: Fight. You're a fighter. You're strong. Everybody loves you. You're gonna get through this." ([25:55])

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Memorable Moments

• [12:41] – Eric’s haunting final text to Chris German prompts a race against time.
• [13:46] – Chris German’s panic, knowing intimately from his law enforcement career what could happen.
• [17:29] – Pieces of Eric’s rescue are reconstructed from secondhand accounts, highlighting the surreal unfolding of events.
• [25:53] – Anna Durgan’s emotional clandestine visit, whispering encouragement to an unrecognizably injured Eric.
• [28:27] – Dylan’s voice prompts a reaction from comatose Eric, momentarily bridging the gap between life and death.

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Episode Tone & Style

Authentic, raw, compassionate, and unflinching. Johnathan Walton allows participants to speak honestly about trauma, guilt, and the stigmatization of mental health, particularly for public figures and athletes. The storytelling is propulsive but sensitive, mixing investigative reconstruction with intimate, first-person narrative.

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Timestamps for Reference

• Eric’s research & planning: [02:27], [08:11]
• CTE’s effects described: [01:07], [06:44]
• Details on the suicide attempt: [12:29], [14:47]
• Medical explanation of survival: [21:01], [22:32]
• Anna sneaks into hospital: [25:03], [25:39]
• Dylan at Eric’s bedside: [27:10]

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Concluding Note

The episode is a searing look into how hidden pain, stigma, and the neurological aftershocks of professional sports can collide with devastating results. The story of Eric Kramer’s survival is equal parts tragedy and testament to the fragility—and the stubborn will—of the human spirit.

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Transcript

[Chris German]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile Now.

[Dylan Kramer]

I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back.

[Jonathan Walton]

So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it.

[Dylan Kramer]

Turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial.

[Jonathan Walton]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

Of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new.

[Anna Durgan]

Customer offer for first three months only.

[Jonathan Walton]

Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra see mintmobile.com this series deals with troubling topics including suicide, drug overdosing and dependent adult abuse. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, call or text 988-right- now and speak with a counselor for free. Previously on the Quarterback and the Con Artist.

[Eric Kramer]

I kind of lost this sense of. I don't know if purpose is the right word.

[Jonathan Walton]

At 30 years old, just seven years into his professional football care, NFL quarterback Eric Kramer starts battling inexplicable depression from.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

Repeated blows to the head. As football players get it causes this prolonged and profound brain damage.

[Jonathan Walton]

This morning, a devastating blow to the NFL. 99% of deceased players brains examined in a new study showed signs of cte. Do you blame CTE for what happened to your dad?

[Dylan Kramer]

Yeah, I definitely think CTE is the biggest contributor by far. I don't think that he was aware of what was going on. I think he was trying his absolute hardest to figure it out, like going to a bunch of different doctors and professional help and all that sort of stuff. And you know, obviously nothing really worked.

[Jonathan Walton]

And on the evening of August 18, 2015, Eric Kramer checks himself into a Los Angeles area motel, puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

[Anna Durgan]

The thought of him taking his life back never even crossed my mind.

[Jonathan Walton]

I'm Jonathan Walton and this is the quarterback and the con artist. Episode 2 the Pain of Being Alive.

[Eric Kramer]

I remember researching online, what's the best way to kill yourself?

[Jonathan Walton]

It's May of 2015 and Eric Kramer has been quietly battling bouts of crippling depression on and off for more than 20 years.

[Anna Durgan]

So, like Eric masked his depression.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric's childhood friend, Anna Durgan.

[Anna Durgan]

I never knew he was depressed. You would never. You didn't hear it in his voice. You didn't see it in him.

[Jonathan Walton]

Even Chicago Bears coach Dave Wanstadt, who interacted with Eric daily for years, saw no signs that anything was wrong. I had no inkling. No inkling that he was battling depression.

[Dylan Kramer]

I mean, I had no idea.

[Jonathan Walton]

I was totally shocked to take him back.

[Chris German]

I wish I would have known because.

[Eric Kramer]

We could have obviously helped him and assisted him.

[Jonathan Walton]

And who knows, though at certain times, something does seem off with Eric, especially in social settings.

[Chris German]

Early on, sometimes he would seem a little lost in the clouds.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric's close friend Robert Espinosa.

[Chris German]

Like, he'd be talking to him and he just wasn't quite focused as he normally is. He hit it very well, though. I had no clue weeks in advance. I had no idea. We had dinner like a couple months before. And he seems pretty normal.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric manages to convince everyone that everything's fine, when in reality, that could not be further from the truth.

[Chris German]

Just because Eric said he was okay doesn't mean he was.

[Jonathan Walton]

That's retired NFL quarterback Eric Hipple, all author of the book Real Men do Cry. He survived his own suicide attempt and now spends his days helping students, military veterans, and former professional athletes talk about their mental health long before they ever decide to end their lives. Because once they reach that decision, they become experts at hiding their plans.

[Dylan Kramer]

They can put on the best acting job in the world because I don't.

[Jonathan Walton]

Want to bother you. I don't want to be a burden.

[Chris German]

To you, you know, and so I won't tell you when it's over with, you'll feel better because I'm not around anymore.

[Jonathan Walton]

And this is especially an issue with former athletes.

[Chris German]

NFL players have abilities override pain and ability to override the stress from the outside pushing. You know, I can solve this myself, and I'm dedicated to getting the job done.

[Eric Kramer]

When a person gets to my stage, they've tried everything. And so keeping it from you is actually the goal. And so you get good at doing that. And you actually get good at, even before that, of being depressed and not letting anybody know you're depressed, because what are they going to do?

[Jonathan Walton]

And sadly, a lot of people who end up committing suicide usually don't tell anyone about their plans. And certainly Eric didn't. He just decided at that point that he'd had enough and he was ready to end his life.

[Eric Kramer]

I'm not bouncing this off of anybody, mind you. Right? So this is in my mind only.

[Jonathan Walton]

So Eric does what we all do when we want to know more about how to do something unfamiliar. He starts googling, what's the best way to kill yourself?

[Eric Kramer]

And the best way was a gun under the chin. So I followed the playbook to a T. I went to a gun store in Simi Valley, had to walk around inside, looking like I'm here to purchase a gun for every other reason other than suicide. And I bought a SIG Sauer 9 millimeter gun. No understanding why it was that one. Just that one.

[Jonathan Walton]

Well, the Sig Sauer is a very popular and very foreboding firearm. Hewn, black steel, thick, heavy, it's the type of gun used in the movies by the likes of James Bond and John Wick. But weeks before Eric actually decides to kill himself, his son Dylan, who's 17 at the time, notices changes in his dad that he attributes to that brain.

[Dylan Kramer]

Disease, cte, depression, anxiety, isolation and all that stuff. And all that stuff that he had been, you know, doing. Yeah, and he had been isolating, he had been more laissez faire, I guess, and just really just a complete shell of himself. And that was when he was at his lowest. And I think that's the sort of, the tricky part about this whole CTE things is that it has to be like those big, big events to be like, oh, that's cte. And I think at the same, in the same breath, it's also like little stuff like how do you connect with people? How do you not connect with people? Are you, you know, usually patient now you're sort of like a, you're being short and you're kind of a dick, you know, to people that you don't even fucking know that don't know you.

[Jonathan Walton]

And so he was very short tempered and didn't have patience.

[Dylan Kramer]

Didn't have patience. Short tempered, but still.

[Jonathan Walton]

The idea that Eric was planning to take his own life never crosses anyone's mind, especially his childhood friend Anna Durgan.

[Anna Durgan]

At that time, his sister and I were already planning a family trip with our kids to go to Hawaii. And I had asked him, why don't you come join us? And I can tell that he wasn't up for that. And he goes, well, I want to be able to spend some time with Dylan. I haven't seen him in over a month, so. And that was basically one of the last times I heard from him before his accident.

[Jonathan Walton]

And the timeline of events of Eric's accident are as follows. In May of 2015, Eric Googles what's the best way to kill yourself? And then he buys a gun and he plans to wedge that gun up under his chin and pull the trigger to ensure a quick and certain death. It's a gruesome technique he's macabrely familiar with because it's how the warden in one of Eric's favorite movies, the Shawshank Redemption successfully takes his own life.

[Eric Kramer]

Yeah, every time I've watched that movie, which is now probably in its 25, 30, 35 number of times that particular scene I can identify with.

[Jonathan Walton]

And as the weeks turn into months, May, then June, then July of 2015, Eric is diligently and methodically getting his affairs in order to preparing to depart this earth.

[Eric Kramer]

I've got to provide for a few people financially.

[Jonathan Walton]

So he meets with lawyers, with investment bankers and estate planners, putting the millions and millions of dollars he has in cash and assets into a trust for his family and friends, which they will receive upon his death.

[Eric Kramer]

So I get those affairs in order and I wrote some letters to some people, handwritten, and put them in envelopes and put them on my desk.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric isn't exactly sure where he wants his suicide to take place, but he knows he doesn't want to do it at home.

[Eric Kramer]

And I thought, okay, even though Dylan doesn't live here, he does have a key. And he was, I think, 17 at the time. And I'm thinking, okay, well, the last thing I want is to do this act here and have him walk in and see me in that state. That's what propelled me to think go somewhere else.

[Jonathan Walton]

But through all of these morbid vicissitudes, and with Eric deep in despair and far down this dark and final path, his will to live creeps up out of nowhere. And suddenly Eric makes a last ditch effort to save his life. In July of 2015, Eric checks himself into a depression treatment facility, hoping beyond hope that it'll fix him, that it'll change his mind and change his outlook on life. But it doesn't.

[Eric Kramer]

We had sort of this daily group therapy. I don't remember one day of that, 30 days ever feeling like now I feel good. Not one. There wasn't one day that I was there, that I didn't wish in some way I was dead. Because the pain of being alive far outweighed anything else. And I don't care who I was talking to, I don't care, because I didn't feel a connection to anyone there. And I think the reason is if this was a baseball game, by the time I got there, it was already the ninth inning. It was the bottom of the ninth, two hours.

[Jonathan Walton]

And in Eric's tortured mind, the die had been cast. So he secretly goes about preparing to end his life.

[Eric Kramer]

There did come a time where all of that sort of contemplation and providing and planning, there was a day where there was no longer anything left to be done. And that Day. That realization, that day made me very uneasy. It was like, okay, now it's all done. If it's all done, then I am too.

[Jonathan Walton]

So on the evening of August 18, 2015, Eric checks himself into the Goodnight Inn, a motel off the 101 freeway about five miles from his home.

[Eric Kramer]

That evening, I show up, check in, and end up making a few text messages to people. One in particular went to a high school friend of mine, Chris German.

[Jonathan Walton]

But Eric has no idea. At that very moment, Chris German is on a road trip nearly 2,000 miles away.

[Chris German]

My middle son. I was checking him into his first time away, going to college. He was going to Loyola New Orleans. And we had spent the day out and about buying stuff, getting everything ready. We went out to eat, checking out the town and getting them all dialed in.

[Jonathan Walton]

So it's a while before Chris German checks his phone. And when he does, he reads Eric's final text message, and he's shocked.

[Chris German]

Basically, he told me where he was stated. I want you to take care of my affairs, take care of my son, and to look out after things and help out.

[Jonathan Walton]

What exactly what did you infer from that text? Exactly what did you think he was trying to say?

[Chris German]

That he was checked into the hotel and he was going to do something to himself, commit suicide or attempt it. I knew exactly what that meant, so I immediately tried to call him. I'm sitting in my car with my middle son, who's, I think, 20. I was in a full panic. I ain't gonna lie.

[Jonathan Walton]

And Chris German has every reason to panic.

[Chris German]

Please, dear God, don't make me be too late.

[Jonathan Walton]

But he is too late. Eric had already placed that gun firmly up under his chin and pull the trigger. Bang. A single bullet shoots out of that gun and rips through Eric's skull. There's blood everywhere. But shockingly, Eric is not dead. Not yet, anyways. He's sitting there on that motel room bed in a daze, bleeding profusely. When did you know he shot himself?

[Chris German]

So I called the hotel to see if he was checked in there, and they said he was, and they gave me his room number. I immediately called. I took my kid's phone, called the Lost Hills Sheriff station, got back, hooked up with the room, and he answered. He answered. The phone wasn't audible. I mean, he was audible, but he wasn't really talking. He was groaning.

[Eric Kramer]

He didn't hear much out of me other than a little gurgling. And he said, eric, if you got.

[Chris German]

Anything in your hand, I want to hear it. Hit the floor right now, and I did hear something.

[Eric Kramer]

He heard something hit the floor.

[Jonathan Walton]

Because in that moment, Eric drops the gun he had just shot himself with on the floor.

[Eric Kramer]

And he said, there are some people at your door right now.

[Jonathan Walton]

You see Chris German at that point in time is a 30 year veteran detective at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in their Lost Hill Station, just up the road from the Goodnight Inn, where Eric is sitting on that motel room bed, dazed and confused and quickly bleeding out.

[Chris German]

I told him, I got people there, I need you to walk out. That door was propped open. One of the guys that I used, that I went to the academy with and worked with over there was working that night in patrol. Very experienced patrol deputy. I was able to get him on another line. I had three phones going at this time, had the ambulance there, had the patrol guy out in the field there and had Eric on the other line. My buddy saw the hotel room that he was in. The door was propped open with towels and the towels had blood on them.

[Eric Kramer]

So apparently I got up and went to the door and from there I don't know what happened.

[Chris German]

And he walked out and complied completely with the deputy that was on scene, who's my friend. He saw a wound on Eric and he's telling me this on the phone and he's talking to Eric. Eric walked right out. And from what my buddy told me, he got onto that ambulance by himself.

[Eric Kramer]

I don't remember one second.

[Jonathan Walton]

And so we're only piecing this together based on what people have told you. It's not because you remember it. You answered the phone, you stumbled to the door, somehow you got to a hospital.

[Eric Kramer]

I don't know how I got to the hospital, but I think I walked down and got in the ambulance. And where we went.

[Jonathan Walton]

And this is where things get complicated. As Eric is being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, Eric's friends and family are finding the goodbye notes he left for them. And they're freaking out. They know something tragic has happened or is about to happen and they're feeling powerless to do anything about it.

[Anna Durgan]

You had no clue? We didn't know what happened other than that there were some letters left.

[Jonathan Walton]

Ana Durgin again.

[Anna Durgan]

They were looking. So I start calling hospitals. At this time, we don't even know if he's at a hospital. And I think I called all hospitals in the local area.

[Chris German]

I was actually in my backyard just cleaning up around the yard when his sister called me.

[Jonathan Walton]

That's Robert Espinosa, another one of Eric's good friends.

[Chris German]

And she said that they were sending people to look for him. And if I had any idea where he might have gone. So I just thought of the places we'd go, hang out or places we'd go and just chill. And called my two boys and had them start driving around looking. And I did the same thing.

[Jonathan Walton]

So it sounds like you formed this impromptu search party to find him. Yeah.

[Chris German]

Anybody I knew. I started calling around, calling friends that we had to see if anyone had heard from him or spoke to him.

[Jonathan Walton]

You were just driving around to all the spots you guys used to hang out and look. Just looking for him.

[Chris German]

Just looking for him, looking for his car, seeing if he was just sitting somewhere, thinking, hoping for the best and not the worst. And I felt bad too. Cause he had called me a couple weeks before. And it was a really busy time.

[Jonathan Walton]

For me because at that point, Robert had just gotten married. He and his bride were moving into a new house. There were boxes everywhere. And he was super busy unpacking and trying to get settled.

[Chris German]

He called and wanted to meet up for dinner. And I couldn't make it.

[Eric Kramer]

And I was like, man, I should have gone.

[Chris German]

Maybe I could have talked to him about it. Maybe he wanted to talk to me about it. I had no clue. You felt guilty? I felt very guilty.

[Jonathan Walton]

So now everyone in Eric's life is calling and searching and going out of their minds looking for him. And the only person who knows Eric shot himself.

[Chris German]

I was stressed, stressed and scared and.

[Jonathan Walton]

Cursing myself is Chris German. And he's 2,000 miles away in New Orleans in complete and utter shock.

[Chris German]

That's a lot of emotions and a lot of fear and a lot of things going on. And I'm way on the other side of the country feeling helpless, just scrambling to see if we can get him help.

[Jonathan Walton]

But deep down, Chris German knows how this will probably play out. He's worked for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for more than 30 years. He's seen this movie before many times, and it never ends well. You have this long career in law enforcement. I'm sure you've heard the story of people who shoot themselves in the head. How many survive?

[Chris German]

The ones I've handled, None. Not a single one.

[Jonathan Walton]

But Eric Kramer has spent a lifetime beating the odds on the field. And now in the most important game of all, the game of life, he was down, but he was not out.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

You know, it's a average age male, you know, with a self inflicted gunshot wound and with massive facial swelling and bleeding.

[Jonathan Walton]

Dr. Mark Kerner is on call the night Eric Kramer is brought into Northridge Hospital's emergency room.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

I'm an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon and I also do facial plastic and reconstructive surgery.

[Jonathan Walton]

And when Dr. Kerner lays eyes on Eric Kramer, it doesn't look good. His head is massively swollen beyond recognition and he's losing a dangerous amount of blood.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

What's important is just getting bleeding under control and, and getting his airway established and then dealing with the other stuff later.

[Jonathan Walton]

And what did he look like? What does a person who shoots themself in the head and lives look like?

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

Well, so the entry point was under the chin, right? So under the mandible. And so what typically happens, and the reason why he survived is because when you do that, the recoil of the gun. If you put the barrel of a handgun under your jaw, right under the front of your mandible or the jawbone, and when you pull the trigger, it recoils forward. So the recoil of the gun, then the bullet trajectory, instead of going straight back, which would potentially go in through the brain stem and probably kill him instantly, goes up through the mouth, through the nasal cavity, if you can imagine, and then up out between the eyes.

[Jonathan Walton]

So the bullet exited where.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

So it went up through between the eyes and then out sort of the top of the forehead in front of where the optic nerves come back from our eyes that go to the brain. It was far enough forward so it missed the optic nerve. So if it was a little bit farther back, it would have nailed the optic nerves and he could have easily been blinded. So eyes were swollen shut, nose was bleeding profusely, bleeding from the mouth and the nose profusely. And that's the reason I was called in is that they were worried he was going to bleed to death. My goal at that point is just to stop the bleeding. So we put all kinds of what's called posterior packs, which is these special big packing, these balloons in the back of the nose to stop the bleeding. And then once we get the bleeding under control, then he needed to be taken to the operating room for the brain injury part. That gets done first. And then once I know he's surviving that and still cognizant and able to move all his extremities and hasn't stroked, then I'll go back and start reconstructing things and once. And then letting the balloons down and dealing with the bleeding once we have the bleeding under control.

[Jonathan Walton]

So while Eric is undergoing this emergency life saving surgery, his friends and family still have no idea where he is or what's Going on. They've called every single hospital in the area, and not one of them has an Eric Kramer listed as a patient.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

When he was brought in. He was brought in as a John Doe.

[Jonathan Walton]

And why was he a John Doe? I can't seem to get to the bottom of that.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

We see a lot of crazy trauma at our trauma center where especially with gunshot wounds, you never know if it's gang related or if it's sort of a hit or what's going on. So the hospital has a policy of putting people with gunshot wounds. They put them down as a John Doe or as under an alias.

[Dylan Kramer]

Ah.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

And if they're high profile, High profile patients. Also, we've had a number of high profile patients that have been involved in accidents or incidents, and they get put down under an alias, too.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eventually, Anna Durgan finds Eric at Northridge Hospital under the alias William Mohn, and she rushes over to see him. Ana and Eric were teenagers together. They've known each other for practically their entire lives. And yet hospital staff is not allowing her in.

[Anna Durgan]

The nurse goes, who are you? I go, oh, I'm his sister. And he goes, no, you're not. I just got off the phone with her. She's in Vegas. I go, well, I'm kind of like a sister. I'm a family friend of the family. Whatever. I'm like a sister to him.

[Jonathan Walton]

But legally, the hospital cannot let Ana in to see Eric. It's immediate family only. So Ana pulls a fast one.

[Anna Durgan]

I snuck into the hospital. I had to go see him. I had to go see what he was. Alive is what we were told, but we didn't know how bad it was.

[Jonathan Walton]

How do you sneak into a hospital?

[Anna Durgan]

So there's different units. There's icu, which is intensive care unit, but then there's a ccu, which is even worse, which is the critical care unit. I just knock into the critical care unit. When someone opened the door. I walked in. Don't even ask. Don't ask.

[Chris German]

Just go.

[Anna Durgan]

And I asked one of the people I'm here for, Kramer, and they showed me, you know, what room he was in. So I went in. He's hooked up to all this machines and tubes and everything everywhere. But what got me was the size of his head was literally like the size of a watermelon. His eye was down to his cheek. Literally from here, it was down to the cheek. And I'm like, God, I don't think he's gonna make it. That was the first thought that I had. But I just whispered in his ear Fight. You're a fighter. You're strong. Everybody loves you. You're gonna get through this. We're here to help you. We all love you. It was shocking. It was devastating. I've never seen anything like that before.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric is now in a coma in a hospital bed, hooked up to countless wires and machines. And as the days pass, doctors, nurses, and Eric's friends and family are coming to the sobering realization that he may not survive this unrecognizable Eric's son, Dylan Kramer.

[Dylan Kramer]

And the first thing I see is him, you know, strapped up on tubes and everything like that. And, like, I didn't recognize him. Like, his head was an actual bowling ball. Swollen, like the fattest bowling ball you've ever seen. I mean, like, his. It's perfectly circle and, like, all four. It's like just a perfect circle, like a big basketball.

[Jonathan Walton]

And what was that? Just swelling.

[Eric Kramer]

Swelling.

[Dylan Kramer]

His fingers were sausages. I don't even know if he could have separated his fingers. It was like, you know, the next fingers beating the necks. Like just big old sausages. His eyes were swollen shut. Everything about him was just so swollen. He was actually still missing the front of his skull, which, once the swelling came down, it caved in. Talk about a connection between a son and a dad is. I'm sitting there and the nurse had told me, like, I think he was trying to set the expectation real low. Like, don't expect, like, a hug or don't expect him to react because he was, like, immobile, eyes shut. Like, I didn't know if he could hear me. That's what the nurse was trying to express to me is like, I'm. We've been trying to, you know, get some sort of reaction out of him, but just can't. I'm like, okay. So I sit down and I'm like. I just start talking to him and rather start talking. He hears my voice and, like, starts to spring out of the bed.

[Jonathan Walton]

Oh, wow.

[Dylan Kramer]

But his hands were handcuffed.

[Eric Kramer]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Walton]

Like, tied down.

[Dylan Kramer]

Everything about him was secured in and. But he tried to, you know, come and leap towards that voice that he was hearing.

[Jonathan Walton]

So he recognized you immediately. Wow.

[Dylan Kramer]

And then nurse was like, wow. I ended up, you know, saying goodbye and ended up walking out. And as I got out the room, I think before I got in the elevator, I just broke down, started crying.

[Jonathan Walton]

Because at that point, it did not look good.

[Dylan Kramer]

No, it looked very bad. It looked like very bad. I. I didn't think that. I wasn't hopeful that he was gonna live.

[Jonathan Walton]

I mean, no one was.

[Dylan Kramer]

No.

[Anna Durgan]

I remember sitting there in the room talking with one of the doctors, Eric's.

[Jonathan Walton]

Childhood friend, Anna Durgan.

[Anna Durgan]

Now it's like a week's gone by. We gotta give him a feeding tube. We need permission to give him a feeding tube. Okay, go ahead. You know, just do whatever it takes to, to keep him alive. We had no idea how he's going to be, you know, he's going to be able to walk, talk.

[Chris German]

And it was pretty horrific.

[Jonathan Walton]

Eric's other friend, Chris Griman, and they.

[Chris German]

Removed that part of his skull and everything was kind of recessed there. He was 140 pounds and weak as can be pale.

[Jonathan Walton]

But Eric is alive, though. He's not doing well. And while he's out of the coma and they've got him breathing on his.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

Own, the question always is at this point is when we save him, if we can save him, will his brain be intact?

[Jonathan Walton]

But Eric's brain is not intact, not at all. Mentally, he seems to have regressed to infancy.

[Anna Durgan]

They basically said he has to learn everything again and you have to think of him like a baby.

[Jonathan Walton]

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or crisis, please reach out immediately to the suicide prevention lifeline by calling or texting 988- if you're enjoying the Quarterback and the Con Artist, click that share button right now and text it to your friends and family. And if you can, leave us a five star review. The Quarterback and the Con Artist is produced, written and hosted by me, Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Media. Executive producers Eric Kramer and Anna Durgan. Audio engineering by Justin Longer. Beam editing and sound design by Zach Hirsch. Legal counsel provided by Ken Sterling from Sterling Media Law. We've got a lot of incredible stories in the works at Jonathan Walton Media, so make sure you subscribe and keep an ear out. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

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[Jonathan Walton]

You love the host, you seek it out and download it.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

You listen to it while driving, working.

[Jonathan Walton]

Out, cooking, even going to the bathroom.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

Podcasts are a pretty close companion.

[Jonathan Walton]

And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows.

[Dr. Mark Kerner]

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[Jonathan Walton]

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