[News] Minnesota's Jerry Kill refuses to let epilepsy remove him from the sideline 9 hours a

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Cint

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An uplifting story I came across tonight:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf-...-remove-him-from-the-sidelines-183314188.html

HOUSTON – The coach opened it up for questions, and a little boy raised his hand. The child could have asked Jerry Kill anything, anything at all, and he would have gotten a straight answer. The Kill way is to tell the truth, even if the truth isn't too optimistic. The Minnesota head coach learned that as a boy growing up in a tiny Kansas town with a dad who spit truth like sunflower seeds. So this little boy was going to get the truth, even in front of a group of fans in neighboring Wisconsin, even if he asked why the Gophers never beat Michigan, and never beat Ohio State.

"I have epilepsy," the boy said. "Do you think I'll ever have a girlfriend?"

Kill paused for a moment, and looked around the room.

It was one of many epilepsy questions Kill would face in 2012. It was perhaps the most poignant question, but not the toughest. The toughest would come months after the child raised his hand, well into the Gophers' season, after Kill had seizures during games and missed a half of football against Michigan State. Some of those questions would be asked to his face, and some behind his back.

What does it feel like when you have a seizure?

Is it the stress from coaching?

Won't recruits be scared off?

Isn't this too much of a distraction for the program?

Might you die on the field?

Are you fit to coach this team?

Kill is still surprised by all of this. He had his first seizure 12 years ago. He's had many since. They are a part of his life. In fact, they are a reason for his life. One of his seizures brought him to the hospital, where doctors did tests and found out he had kidney cancer. If he didn't have the epilepsy, maybe he doesn't have the surprise diagnosis, the successful treatment, the rocket ship that is his coaching career and, in five months, the 30th wedding anniversary with wife Rebecca. So in a roundabout way, Jerry Kill is grateful for epilepsy.
The hard part is learning how to be grateful for all the questions.
 
:bump:

We had a previous thread about Coach Kill's televised seizure. He's back in the news, this time because he's quitting:
The University of Minnesota announced Wednesday morning that head football coach Jerry Kill is retiring because of health reasons.

Associate head coach Tracy Claeys will take over as interim coach, with the 4-3 team preparing to play Michigan on Saturday.

Kill, 54, has epilepsy and overcame kidney cancer in 2005.

He missed parts of four games in his first five seasons as Gophers coach because of seizures, but he hadn’t missed part of any game since the Oct. 5, 2013 game at Michigan.

Kill was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2005 when he was coaching at Southern Illinois.

He had a seizure on the sideline at halftime against Western Illinois on Sept. 14, 2013, and was back that week. But when a seizure kept Kill from traveling to the game at Michigan on Oct. 5, 2013, Kill took a two-week leave to treat his epilepsy. This July, he said he hadn’t had a seizure in more than a year and a half.

“It was pretty much a life-changing moment,” Kill’s wife, Rebecca, has said. “Jerry was at his lowest probably in his life at that point, and just trying to figure out what to do, and for pretty much about 10 days, you just didn’t know how things were going to go.”

Claeys took over as acting head coach in 2013, but Kill resumed most of his duties and coached seven games from the press box before returning to the sideline for the second half of the Texas Bowl.

In October 2013, Kill pledged to be seizure-free long enough to be able to drive again — at least three months by Minnesota law — and he was back behind the wheel in February.

The university gave him a contract extension in August, raising his salary to $2.5 million. The Gophers went 3-9, 6-7, 8-5 and 8-5 in his first four years and are 4-3 heading into Saturday’s game against Michigan.

Last year, they went 5-3 in the Big Ten, their first winning conference record since 2003, and played in their first New Year’s Day bowl game since 1962.

In May 2015, Jerry and Rebecca Kill family started a new Chasing Dreams fund through the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota, to support seizure-free initiatives in schools, along with Camp Oz, a specially designed camp for young epilepsy patients. The Kills started the fund with a $100,000 donation.

Kill’s contract spells out what would happen if he were unable to coach for an extended period. The contract would terminate automatically if he’s unable to coach for 70 consecutive days during the season, although Kill would remain a university employee and could seek disability benefits.

The contract also says, “During the term of this agreement, the University and Coach may mutually agree to transition Coach … to an agreed upon position with the University,” paying $200,000 per year.

Before last season, Claeys added the title associate head coach, and offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover is listed as assistant coach, which suggests a potential progression the staff would take if Kill could no longer coach.

Before the 2014 season, Kill said, “I’ve done a lot of walking. I dropped about 12 to 13 pounds, quit drinking Coke and Diet Coke. I’m drinking water. All the things that can help bring on [seizure] situations, I’ve made sure I addressed.”

Kill added: “I’ve done everything I can, so that’s all you can do,” Kill said. “But it’s kind of like a football player training; you do everything you can and see what happens."

http://www.startribune.com/jerry-kill-retires-as-u-football-coach-due-to-health/337923342/
 
Thank you Cint for this uplifting story. It just shows that some of us cAn lead a normal life.
 
:bump:

We had a previous thread about Coach Kill's televised seizure. He's back in the news, this time because he's quitting:

http://www.startribune.com/jerry-kill-retires-as-u-football-coach-due-to-health/337923342/

I posted this recent story on my FB page so folks outside my seizure world will know that all kinds of people in this world can have epilepsy. I understand what he said in this interview, stating what I so often feel, "I feel like a part of me died." His life as he knew it, a football coach, was taken away. He'll have to find another way, like so many of us have had to do.
BTW, I wouldn't saying he's quitting......
 
At the time the Gophers first hired coach Kill, and after his first seizure during a Gopher game, and the media storm that followed, I thought overall it was good that E was getting exposure. Living in Minnesota like I do, you can hardly not be aware of his story.

In retrospect, I am not so sure it was all worth it.

I think "retirement" will be good for coach Kill. (I don't think he will retire either.) I am thinking that less stress and scrutiny will be good for him.
 
Thanks Cint for posting an eg of inspiration despite the challenges of E or other conditions.

Its amazing what motivation and determination can do in some people from ( not just well known people) different walks of life. I never get sick of reading stuff that seems so challenging yet people can make the most of it despite some serious crap.
 
I am a big college football fan and this is a story of a great man and coach.
 
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