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Daryl Hayes, a 48-year-old football coach for St. John’s-Concordia Prep, did the unthinkable and showed otherworldly toughness.
According to the Frederick-News Post, Hayes suffered a heart attack due to a blood clot in an artery connected to his left ventricle which was about 99 percent blocked.
Despite that, Hayes managed to finish the team’s game which was a 53-0 loss.
Luckily, Hayes was able to be treated following the game and cleared the blockage before he was discharged from the ICU on Monday.
“He is lucky to be alive,” Kelly Hayes told the paper. “We really dodged a bullet. It was too close of a call for my comfort, but he made it through. That’s a relief.
“He’s a tough guy, and he loves this game. For a lot of these kids, this may be their last football game of the season. It’s been such a horrible year anyway, I think he just was determined to finish the game he loved. I’m just glad he survived it.
“For Daryl, it just felt like regular chest pain that got worse and worse. He told me later he didn’t really get spooked until his left arm and part of his leg started going numb.”
Respect.
Moving forward, whenever Hayes challenges his players and asks them to dig deep and tough it out, you can guarantee they will listen.
