Strathmore coach Jeromy Blackwell returns to football field after medically induced coma

Strathmore High head football coach Jeromy Blackwell is always on the go.

Whether it’s teaching or coaching, the former College of the Sequoias and Fresno State fullback is constantly moving.

Even when it’s 100-plus degrees on a summer day, Blackwell usually isn’t lounging and relaxing in his air-conditioned home in Exeter.

Instead, he’s doing yard work and firing up the grill, a couple of his favorite things to do.

That decision nearly cost him his life.

On one of the hottest days of the year at around 2 p.m. on June 30, Blackwell did what he traditionally does when he has free time — mow his lawn and tidy up his yard.

The only problem?

It was hot. 103 to be exact.

As Blackwell was finishing up by 4 in the afternoon, he decided to grill some steaks and bratwurst for dinner.

His body, however, had other plans. His exposure to the torching sun led to a heat stroke.

Blackwell, while grilling, accidentally tripped over his blind and deaf dog, Dallas, and slammed his head on a brick before collapsing into a pile of mud unconscious.

His wife, Carol, finally found him some two hours later because she heard her husband snoring from inside the house.

Carol dialed 911 and Blackwell was rushed to Kaweah Health by ambulance in Visalia.

At the hospital, doctors learned Blackwell had aspirated and inhaled mud into his lungs so he was admitted into the ICU Trauma Unit. There, Blackwell was intubated and put on a ventilator. Doctors also put him into a medically induced coma and pumped about half a gallon of fluid from his lungs. He was treated for pneumonia, too.

On July 8, eight days later, Blackwell woke up from his coma. Sitting bedside next to him were his wife, daughter Kylee, and former high school football coach Scott Bowser.

"Thank God for my wife, thank God for my daughter, and thank God for coach Bowser because they were there," Blackwell said. "They were always talking to me. I don't remember any of it but Carol, my wife, said, 'Are you ready for football to start?' And she said I opened my eyes for a little while. I don't remember any of it but I know those doctors and those nurses saved my life. I honestly believe if it wasn't for her finding me when she found me, I don't think she could have waited any longer. I thank those nurses because I wouldn't be on the planet at the moment."

The road to recovery

Blackwell was discharged from the hospital on July 13 after spending 14 straight days bed-ridden.

When he finally gained consciousness, he learned that doctors had been prescribing him drugs to help his body recover.

One of the drugs would make Blackwell fall asleep, which made him feel uncomfortable.

"I got deathly afraid that if I went back to sleep, I'm not coming back," Blackwell said. "I'm knocking on heaven's door at that moment. And so, I started asking the nurse, 'Please stop giving me drugs and putting me to sleep. It's really scary for me right now.' I don't know. It could have just been psychological but I really thought I was going to die."

Nurses obliged his request and he went cold turkey.

The decision came with side effects, though, and Blackwell started having visions.

"I was talking to these two twin boys that were 12 years old," Blackwell said. "I was recruiting them into our program, 'Come play football for us.' They didn't exist. I talked to them for eight hours. I saw these weird gnats flying around in Kaweah Delta and spiders floating across."

The hallucinations eventually went away a day and a half later, and Blackwell started feeling a little better, but he still couldn't eat much at all.

"All food tasted like plastic for like 10 days," Blackwell said. "I lost like 20 pounds. Not a diet I wanted to be on."

It helped that Carol went to social media, asking for a prayer train from family and friends. The Central Section high school football community responded.

Blackwell even received visits from opposing coaches, and more reached out via social media.

"It feels good to be loved," Blackwell said. "It's good to be appreciated. These coaches around here, it's a big coaching family."

The support helped accelerate his recovery.

Bowser, who coached Blackwell in high school at Lindsay, and is now an assistant on his Spartans' coaching staff, paid his former player a visit every day he was in the hospital.

Why?

"I was also there for his mom, for his wife because they're all very neat people," Bowser said. "I was just there to support them."

Returning to coaching

A determined individual, Blackwell started walking under his own power without assistance the following Sunday of his discharge date — just three days after leaving the hospital.

By July 21, he was cleared by his doctor to coach and teach, and he returned to coaching for the first official day of football practice just three days later.

"It's just good to be alive," Blackwell said. "I love football. My whole goal, once I became cognizant again, and my mind was straight, 'I got to be ready for July 24.' "

Because of the dreaded summer heat, Blackwell has been holding practices in the morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Despite the early start, Strathmore is expected to field one of its biggest teams ever with 45 players.

The Spartans are coming off an eight-win season and are the defending co-East Sequoia League champions alongside Corcoran.

"I love football all the time but I think, not the expectation, but the workload doesn't feel as much as it used to be," Blackwell said. "I'm just really happy that I'm alive and I'm here."

Blackwell has served as Strathmore's head football coach since the 2001 season. During that span, he has amassed a career record of 166-67, which is the second most wins for an active Tulare County head coach.

Senior running back Jacob Poole has started on varsity since his sophomore year. Poole had no doubt Blackwell would be back in time for practice.

"Was I shocked? Not really," Poole said. "It's Blackwell. He's all for the kids and that's what he personally loves to do. Personally, I probably would have stayed in bed, you know, but that's not Blackwell."

How special is it to play for Blackwell?

"He's a good guy," Poole said. "He's like a dad to me honestly. He's always pushed me past my limits. I made it to regional championships for track and he was there by my side. He's always pushed me to do my best because I feel like he sees something in me that I don't always see all the time. It's amazing to have guys like that in my corner, pushing me, making me my best."

Strathmore kicks off the 2023 season against Exeter on Aug. 18 at Monarch Stadium.

"I can't move 100 miles an hour like I want to, but I'm ready to rock 'n' roll," Blackwell said. "I'm a believer. I think God brought me back for a reason. I think football is that reason. This is my way of giving back to the world and helping boys become men."

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Strathmore's Jeromy Blackwell returns to football field after coma