Ahmad Hardy begins recovery after release from Columbia hospital; MU still ‘weeks away’ from knowing timeline for return

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz said that running back Ahmad Hardy has been released from the hospital and is now beginning his recovery process, after getting shot after a concert in Laurel, Mississippi in the early hours of May 10.

The leader of the Tigers caught up with the media at the Springfield stop of the 'Zou to You' tour and said that it will still be several weeks before there is a timeline for Hardy, regarding football.

"There's some internal healing that has to occur before we get to any type of strenuous activities, which would then dictate a timeline on his return," Drinkwitz said. "The most important thing is that he's been discharged from the hospital and he's in Columbia. He's working with a physical therapist and our athletic training staff to get back to normal."

This update comes after Hardy was shot in the upper leg, following a concert at the Kamakazy Bike Club in Laurel, Mississippi, which is about 90 minutes away from the running back's hometown. After sustaining that gunshot wound, Hardy was taken to a hospital in Mississippi and got surgery.

Coach Drinkwitz detailed what it was like to receive that initial phone call about Hardy.

"The first phone call was was really tough because we didn't have very much information. There wasn't a known prognosis, diagnosis. We just knew that there's going to have to be several surgeries and so it was a long 12 hours, honestly, to figure out what all the damage is. Anytime there's a wound like that there's a lot of different unknowns," he said. "It's the old proverb, good, bad, hard to know. I think that's kind of where we're at with this whole thing is good, bad, hard to know, right now. We'll just take it as it comes and he's in good spirits. That's probably the best thing going for us right now."

The Laurel, Mississippi police department said there has an arrest made in the shooting of Hardy and one other victim.