Wednesday, August 27, 2003

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Freedom Coach Jim Wilson talks excitedly about his fifth season as the Bulldogs' coach.

	Freedom Coach Jim Wilson suffered a stroke last December. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette) Click photo for larger image. Midwestern: at a glance

It's hard to believe only seven months ago he was in a rehabilitation center, learning how to walk again.

Wilson, 51, had a stroke last December and spent a month in the hospital. Wilson said the stroke was caused when he fell on ice in his driveway and hit his head. His brain stem and cerebellum were damaged.

"I couldn't walk when I started rehab," Wilson said.

Now, coaching football keeps him running.

"Everybody told me I should give up coaching," said Wilson, who was an assistant at Blackhawk for 23 years before coming to Freedom. "But coaching, to me, is not a job. It's a lifestyle. I'm not saying I'll do it forever and a day, but right now it's still a passion of mine."

Wilson remembers falling in his driveway Dec. 29 and hitting his head. He got up, though, and didn't think anything of the fall. He attended the Steelers-Ravens game the next day at Heinz Field.

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"I drank only two beers and I didn't have any balance," Wilson said. "I couldn't figure it out. I found out later the stroke was caused by the fall."

Two days after he fell, Wilson felt ill and spent most of the day in bed. By 7 p.m. that night, he couldn't get out of bed. He was then taken to the hospital.

"I blew out my cerebellum and brain stem," Wilson said. "There was one day at the hospital when they called a 'code blue' [a life-threatening emergency] on me."

Wilson had vision problems for about a month. His biggest problem, though, was walking. Even after he got out of the hospital, he had trouble with his balance.

"I started going to the weight room with the football players again in February," Wilson said. "But I couldn't turn corners. If I tried to turn a bend around a doorway, I was like Curly in the Three Stooges."

Wilson feels good about his condition now. Besides coaching, he also has returned to his job as an English teacher at Freedom.

"When they kicked me out of the hospital, they told me to go live a normal life," Wilson said. "I still have a little bit of a problem at times with balance. I had to get rid of my motorcycle. That's about the biggest difference in my life right now."

Many Midwestern Conference coaches are picking Freedom to finish near the top of the conference standings.

"We have a much stronger, physical team than in the past, and we have some players back," Wilson said. "So things are looking up."

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