How Giants Younghoe Koo’s viral botched kick vs. Patriots saved NFL fan’s life

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giants-younghoe-koo-viral-botched-120624281.html","headline":"How Giants Younghoe Koo’s viral botched kick vs. Patriots saved NFL fan’s life","datePublished":"2026-04-28T12:06:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T12:06:24.000Z","keywords":["Younghoe Koo","New York Giants","New England Patriots","Spendthrift Farm","NFL","Toothaker","Monday Night Football","Le’Veon Bell","Drew Allar","Green Bay Packers"],"description":"An NFL fan from Lexington, Kentucky believes a missed field goal by New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo might have saved his life. Mark Toothaker settled in ...","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Yagya Bhargava","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Yagya Bhargava","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Big Lead","url":"https://www.thebiglead.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":344,"height":100,"url":"https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2026-01/99a1d0d0-f6f3-11f0-afad-45c3c4d32aae"}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/9weVLxDO3738WnnX97r8og--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTIwNDg7aD0xMzY2O2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_big_lead_articles_114/451b691a2e5d1ddffa34ed75ac2016b7","height":683,"width":1024},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/9weVLxDO3738WnnX97r8og--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTIwNDg7aD0xMzY2O2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_big_lead_articles_114/451b691a2e5d1ddffa34ed75ac2016b7"}Story byHow Giants Younghoe Koo’s viral botched kick vs. Patriots saved NFL fan’s lifeYagya BhargavaTue, April 28, 2026 at 12:06 PM UTC·2 min readAn NFL fan from Lexington, Kentucky believes a missed field goal by New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo might have saved his life.Mark Toothaker settled in at home after a long day at Spendthrift Farm and the gym to watch the Giants take on the New England Patriots on “Monday Night Football.” What happened next turned a comedy of errors on the field into something far more serious off it.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_33iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_33iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }MORE: Le’Veon Bell questions Adam Gase’s long NFL absence with serious accusationToothaker laughed so hard at Koo’s botched attempt that he suffered a seizure. The violent episode felt like he got electrocuted and sent him straight to the hospital. Doctors ran a CT scan and found a tumor the size of a tennis ball on the side of his brain.“[Koo] saved my life because it could’ve happened any other time. I wholeheartedly believe I was in the right spot at the right time, and he was the trigger for that happening. It was a miracle,” Toothaker said, per Collin Ruggs.Seizure Reveals Brain Tumor After Younghoe Koo’s Missed Field GoalToothaker is 59 years old and never saw it coming. The tumor pushed his brain six millimeters to the right without giving him a single warning sign. In the months before the seizure, he stayed busy in his role as stallion sales manager at Spendthrift Farm.New York Giants place kicker Younghoe KooHe drove and flew across the country for work…

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