Bill Walsh's greatest challenge isn't on the field Bill Walsh's greatest challenge isn't on the field (May 28, 2004)

Famed coach describes, for the first time publicly, the life-changing effects of his wife's massive stroke

by Jay Thorwaldson

Famed football coach Bill Walsh Tuesday broke a deeply personal silence to discuss his greatest challenge: the massive stroke suffered by his wife more than five years ago.

"It was devastating," he told more than 125 persons at the first-annual fund-raising breakfast for the Peninsula Stroke Association at Garden Court Hotel in downtown Palo Alto.

Walsh's soft-spoken comments followed brief presentations by several physicians involved in creating "stroke centers" at area hospitals -- including Stanford Hospital, Kaiser hospitals and Good Samaritan in San Jose. The physicians cited major advances in stroke treatment in recent years -- if, they emphasized, people get the right treatment within three hours of experiencing stroke symptoms.

Speaking hesitantly at first, and apologizing for "this being my first attempt to address this issue" publicly, Walsh noted that his wife, Geri, was given just a one-in-five chance to live. "She was given last rites, but she made it. We have rebuilt her life so it has some quality to it -- that's been our job," he said of the years since the stroke.

She went from being an active, athletic woman, "the epitome of health," to a severely disabled person requiring extensive personal care, with brain damage. Prior to the stroke, she had some atrial-fibrillation problems that were "not taken seriously enough."

Walsh said the first lesson was they put too much trust in regular physicians: "I wish we'd have had other people visit with us," meaning physicians more knowledgeable about strokes.

He said people can easily become embittered after a stroke, asking, "Why me?"

"Life after a stroke is what's critical," he said, both in terms of spirituality and meeting the great physical challenges.

"She has found a way, through the love of grandchildren, the love of family, that she is able to deal with it," he said. But it takes constant care as well as an understanding of the cognitive damage a stroke can cause.

"The care is what's most important," he said.

"Fortunately in our case we could afford home care. If I had been a school teacher, I'd be home now instead of here speaking to you." Two caregivers alternate coming to the home during the days and "I take over at night."

Understanding the burden on caregivers is also important, as they "often lose their own health" in the process, Walsh emphasized. They must pay attention to their own mental health and "their own determination live a full life," Walsh said. "Those in the home helping you can be worn out fairly quickly," he said, adding that part of his job is to monitor the well-being of the caregivers.

"Those who know her know her to be a beautiful woman who can carry on a conversation," he said of her progress today. "Some people can let down and give up after a stroke. Those (stroke victims) who continue to strive to get the most out of their life can sustain those who are caring for them."

Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be e-mailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly.com

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