Coronavirus ran roughshod over Sandy Valley defensive coordinator
Tim Botos | The Repository MAGNOLIA In football lingo, COVID-19 ran the ball down coach
| The Repository
MAGNOLIA In football lingo, COVID-19 ran the ball down coach Brian Reidenbach’s throat for the better part of three months.
“I’m scared; I love you,” he texted his wife, Sue, when he was admitted to Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital in July.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus had rung his bell with a cough, fever and exhaustion. But it was about to get much worse. In the coming days, it trampled him with pneumonia and two collapsed lungs. Then, it knocked him cold, as he languished for weeks on a ventilator and in a coma-like state.
He doesn’t remember most of the ordeal.
Reidenbach is 52 years old. He’s no Superman, though many would consider him a pretty tough guy. He played football in high school and college. He runs the strength program for the Sandy Valley High School football team, where he also was the defensive coordinator.
Today, he’s still only halfway back.
Reidenbach has rejoined the coaching staff, but in a limited role. He came back midway through this season. He’ll be the one walking with the assistance of a cane on the Cardinals’ sidelines during Saturday’s 7 p.m., Division V Region 17 playoff game at Martins Ferry.
“Every day we get to see him is a blessing,” said Sandy Valley’s head coach Brian Gamble.
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A defensive guy at heart, Reidenbach studies X’s and O’s. In football, it can be all about matchups when plotting how to defend against a potent offense. Like the game plan he devised for last year’s playoffs, when Sandy Valley nearly upset Kirtland, Ohio’s mightiest small school power.
For whatever reason, though, Reidenbach didn’t match up well against COVID-19 when it invaded his family.
His wife caught it. So did his 19-year-old daughter, Maddie, and 23-year-old son, Jake. All had mild or no symptoms. Even his 78-year-old mother-in-law, Kay Weibel, got infected, was hospitalized near her Pennsylvania home, and recovered on a faster trajectory than him.
The 6-foot, 315-pound Reidenbach wasn’t as fortunate.
Now 50 pounds lighter, he needs the cane for extra support and confidence. He may not fit a classic profile of a “long-hauler,” someone with long-term symptoms of the virus, but Reidenbach is certainly not himself yet.
He goes to physical and occupational therapy three days a week, 90 minutes a session. His shoulder aches. He gets numbness in a foot. For some reason, he now has high blood pressure.
“And I still struggle with ‘why?'” Reidenbach said. “Why did I wake up and so many others don’t make it? Almost like survivor’s guilt … for some reason I got better and I don’t know why.”
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Reidenbach had never doubted the potential deadliness of the virus. In the spring and early summer, the only places he went were to the grocery store, or to school to run the strength program.
And he always wore a mask.
The culprit, it turned out, was likely a smallish gathering of family and friends in late June related to the upcoming wedding of Reidenbach’s son. Brian Reidenbach didn’t even attend the event – but the virus ultimately found its way back inside his house in New Philadelphia.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus can be sneaky like that. If you’re in a textbook defensive stance, ready to make the tackle, it’s easier to fend off. But sometimes, it runs a flea-flicker, combined with a downfield hook-and-lateral play that can catch even the best defenders flat-footed.
In early July, Reidenbach developed a cough.
Then came a fever and fatigue.
Looking back, he said he’s forever grateful for the timing – around the Fourth of July holiday – which made it unlikely he could have infected any of the Sandy Valley football players .
“Finally, I couldn’t stay awake; couldn’t even stand up,” he recalled.
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On July 10, Sue Reidenbach drove her husband to Union Hospital in Dover. She didn’t know he’d soon be flown by helicopter to Marymount Hospital-Cleveland Clinic. Or, that he’d miss their son’s wedding and their daughter’s return to college at the University of Cincinnati for her sophomore year.
All she knew was that he was sick.
She immediately turned to Facebook, imploring her friends:
“PLEASE!! PLEASE!! PLEASE!!! WEAR A MASK!! This is not political! We are not sheep. We are trying to save lives! You wear gloves when it’s cold to protect from frost bite why would you not wear a mask to protect yourself and others — Just wear a mask to protect everyone!!”
Sue Reidenbach, who works for the United Way of Tuscarawas County and sells tickets at New Philadelphia football games, used the social media platform to update family friends on her husband’s condition.
The communities and her husband’s players, former players and colleagues from Dover, to New Philadelphia, Strasburg and Sandy Valley responded in force with letters, gift cards and meals.
So much love and so many prayers, they could never thank everyone.
From July 10 until he returned home on Aug. 26, Brian Reidenbach overcame the two collapsed lungs; spent 21 days on a ventilator; endured a tracheotomy; warded off a blood clot; battled incessant fevers; unexplained buildup of fluids; and spent a large chunk of that time on muscle-relaxing paralytic medication that left him unable to recall much of it.
Along the way, according to doctor’s notes, he was treated with the anti-inflammatory Tocilizumab, steroidal Decadron and antiviral Remdesivir. He also was a trial recipient of convalescent plasma, getting transfusions from those recovered from COVID-19.
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In late August, three days before her husband returned home, Sue Reidenbach couldn’t contain herself any longer. All the worrying, fear and doubts, combined with comments she read on Facebook posts and what she saw in the country, she lashed out in a post.
In part, she said:
“I have a question ? How is Covid a political/media motivated illness? Was my husband on a ventilator for 21 days and ICU for 31 days because he is a Republican? Or is it because he is a (Democrat)? Tell me is it because he voted for Trump? Or is it because he voted for Hillary? Or is it because he watches CNN or is it because he watches Fox News? Is it because he has taught 1000’s of students the history of this country for 30 years? Please I am wondering how my husband who never had the flu before – no pre-existing conditions – 52 years old was on a ventilator because of a disease that only (exists) because of politics and the media and is magically going away on Nov 4?”
Brian Reidenbach is one of the 7.8 million people in the country who have had COVID-19, according to the latest count by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And for whatever reason, he was not among 215,194 people who died from the virus. Like most, he’s recovered or is recovering.
“Before all this, I was scared to death of (COVID-19); I always took it seriously,” he said.
He and his wife are puzzled by those who don’t.
Reidenbach is used to doing the coaching. But at his ongoing therapy sessions, he feels like a player, as his therapists urge him to do more, so he can get stronger to make his way back.
“My goal is to be in the classroom for the second semester,” said Reidenbach, a history teacher, who’d built up about 300 sick days through the years, though he despises using them.
Gamble, the head coach, said Reidenbach is quickly returning to form. When he couldn’t make it to games early on, Reidenbach watched online. And he did let Gamble know – with a dose of all-capital letter texts – what the linebackers were doing wrong.
“When he did come back … the kids love him, but sometimes he enjoys playing the role of bad cop,” Gamble said. “He’s feeling more comfortable. … He’s going to be my defensive coordinator next year.”
Reidenbach is used to doing the coaching. But at his ongoing therapy sessions, he feels like a player, as his therapists urge him to do more, so he can get stronger to make his way back.
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