Most Reliable blood pressure Monitors

On the morning of Friday, Sept. 4, Elysian Fields athletic director and head football coach Scott Ford woke up expecting to be on the sidelines later that evening for the Elysian Fields vs. Jefferson game, but unforeseen factors changed his plans.

"I got up about 6 Friday morning and I had lost all the feeling in my left leg, left arm and the left side of my face, " Ford said. "It was almost like I had slept on my side all night. I was trying to shake it off and I went and took a hot bath hoping I would feel better but it never resolved itself. I could barely, barely walk."

Ford was rushed into the hospital where he was told his high blood pressure caused a stroke.

"The high blood pressure, the doctor said, was no different than if you turned the water up on the water hose long enough or high enough, " Ford explained. "Eventually it's going to pop somewhere and he said that's essentially what happened to my brain. It popped just to relieve the pressure.

"Thankfully I never had any cognitive issues, which is something they were concerned about. I never lost speech. I never had a droop on my face. They put me through a reading test after I got my vitamins. I'm very thankfully I didn't lose anything cognitively because it certainly could have been a lot worse."

Ford has been around sports a lot and says he's in good shape, which is one reason why the stroke came as major surprise.

"What shocked me is I had been a college athlete and I've been in shape and all that but it doesn't guarantee you anything. It just doesn't. It definitely caught me by surprise, " Ford said.

"To say the least, it was a wakeup call. I do not want sympathy. I want to help people to prevent this from happening to them. People need to be aware of the symptoms of a stroke. If you have slurred speech or numbness, loss of feeling, weakness in your legs, you probably ought to go in and get checked. That'd be my advice."

After spending the night in the hospital, Ford was instructed to do physical therapy at home and at work.

"They gave me some PT things to do, bands to squeeze, and things like that so I'm doing all that on my own, " he said. "I see improvement. It's just going to take a while. You just don't feel normal. I still don't have all my strength back. I can only jog a short period of time.

"I've got all my feeling back in my face, it's just my arm and my leg are still kind of lagging behind. I'm obviously on medication and I've got my blood pressure monitor at home and that's something I'd suggest that anybody over the age of 40, wouldn't hurt to get. That way you don't let it sneak up on you."

Because he spent that Friday night in the hospital, Ford was unable to attend the 'Jackets game against the Bulldogs.

"I've always said I love my job and not being able to come Friday was extremely emotional and difficult, " he said. "When I got the news that I was going to be held overnight, I immediately got on the phone with two of my coaches and just explained the way we wanted to do things for the ballgame that night."

After being released from the hospital Saturday morning, Ford paid a visit to his team, who pulled out a 19-7 win the night before.

"They didn't know I was coming, " Ford said. "I came stumbling in because I didn't have a whole lot of feeling. I was dragging that leg around.

"They were watching video and they all gave me a tremendous reception. It meant a lot to me, I'll put it that way.

"I'm proud of them for finding a way to win that ballgame. It's just difficult because I've been a play-caller for three seasons.

"Coach (Sharay) Ratliffe stepped up and coach (Al) Sandahl stepped up and they worked together to call plays.

"Coach (Jason) Burnett was the interim head coach and kind of ran the show and the overall organization, whether to decline penalties. He ran all that and stepped up and did it."

"It was great to see him come back, " senior running back Kyree Ratliffe said. "Strokes can be real serious. When I heard, I was heartbroken because obviously a stroke can be really serious and nobody really knows what can happen.

"I think that's one of the reasons we won that game. It was really for Coach Ford. That's really when we became family and realized it's going to take everybody to get to where we want to go. One thing that helps us is we all have the same goal. It's not going to be easy to get to where we want to be."

Six days after his stroke, Ford was back on the field to coach his seventh-grade son, Will Ford, in his first football game.

"I was very thankful that I got go to see my son's first game against West Sabine at home, " Ford said.