Kentucky man credits Younghoe Koo’s embarrassing botched field goal attempt with saving his life
One of the worst moments of Younghoe Koo’s NFL career last season may have saved a man’s life.
At least it seems that way if you hear Mark Toothaker describe what happened to him last December while he and his wife were at home watching Monday Night Football, the New York Giants playing the New England Patriots.
Koo, kicking for the Giants in the second quarter of the game, had a terrible, funny, terrible, embarrassing moment when he suddenly decided not to pursue the field goal attempt and the game turned into a Keystone Cops moment on national television.
Perhaps like many fans who witnessed the play, Toothaker started laughing at Koo’s expense. But suddenly, unexpectedly, the laughter turned into a crisis, causing a violent seizure.
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That led to some things, which led to some things that Toothaker credits with saving his life.
“(The) kicker saved my life because this could have happened another time,” Toothaker told the Associated Press. “I believe with all my heart that I was in the right place at the right time, and that was the trigger for this incident. It was a miracle.”
Toothaker sees a miracle in Koo’s incomplete kick and medical emergency, which he likens to “an electric shock” because his wife immediately called 911. When paramedics arrived, they immediately took him to the hospital.
New York Giants shortstop Younghoe Koo is on the field before the game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium on November 16, 2025 in East Rutherford, NJ. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
A CT scan revealed a tumor the size of a tennis ball on the left side of Toothaker’s brain. So yes, serious things come after laughter
“When you hear the news, ‘You have a brain tumor,’ that’s what no one wants to hear,” said Malory Toothaker, a nurse who works with patients with brain injuries.
Toothaker was transported to the University of Kentucky hospital, where the tumor was surgically removed. The condition turned out to be benign, according to the Associated Press.
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Toothaker was home until the weekend with no permanent damage and continues to work at Spending Farm, where the thoroughbred Next Ado will compete in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo kicks an extra point in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on December 1, 2025. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)
Toothaker, 59, said he had no symptoms and had no idea that the tumor was pushing his brain six millimeters to the right as it grew. The only thing Toothaker knows for sure is that his job as stallion season manager requires him to fly all over the country, driving.
And if the seizure happened while in the air or behind the wheel, a great story could have a different ending.
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“I could have taken it anywhere on the plane,” Toothaker said. “I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t run over a family running up and down the road on my expedition. I think if anyone had been harmed by that, that would have been the hardest thing for me to go through.”
“Believe me, no matter how drastic that incident was, no matter how violent that seizure was, I don’t remember it at all, and I would find it hard to believe that if I had been behind the wheel I wouldn’t have hurt someone or myself.”
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Younghoe Koo of the New York Giants kicks out in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on December 1, 2025. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Toothaker’s good fortune was part of Koo’s disaster.
He was released by the Giants after missing two field goals following a loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 15. The memory of the failed attempt against the Patriots certainly didn’t help his case, either, as the team sealed his fate.
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Fox News attempted to contact Koo for this story, but he did not respond to any messages.
“I know it wasn’t his finest moment, but it was beyond crazy,” Toothaker said. “For [Malory] And I’ll laugh out loud at his expense, which makes me feel so bad right now, but it all worked out in the end, it couldn’t have been a better moment for me.”
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