Photo courtesy of ©Getty Images/Francois Lacasse/NHLI
An Example of
Resoluteness
Thrashers Head Coach Craig Ramsay [ W r i t t e n B y C a r l D a nb u r y, J r . ]
[ By Carl Danb u ry, Jr. ]
In August, 17 years ago, Ramsay nearly died due to an ulcer. His rehabilitation after several more surgeries lasted more than four months. In 2001, Ramsay had his gall bladder removed and in 2005, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Through all the tests, surgeries and being a part of seven NHL organizations, Ramsay has endured and agreed to tell his “very long story” because he wants others “to understand that it’s OK. You can fight through a lot of things.”
Photo courtesy of Robin HArrison
In professional sports
and in many other pursuits, smart managers always look for people with “intestinal fortitude” to join their organizations. While new Atlanta Thrashers head coach Craig Ramsay is the personification of fortitude, he’s short on anything intestinal. The former National Hockey League player and assistant coach had his first upper gastrointestinal test at 16 and his first major surgery at the age of 20. He endured another surgery after turning 30, but in 1993 Ramsay’s health became perilously short-handed, to borrow a word from the hockey vernacular.
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Points North | August 2010 | ptsnorth.com
Trial and Tribulations “I [have] had stomach problems my whole life,” said Ramsay, who was named as the Thrashers fifth-ever head coach June 24. “I had reflux before they knew what it was. I was 16 and in Juniors (with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League) when I had my first upper GI. I had my first major surgery when I was 20. I didn’t tell the Buffalo Sabres about it. I was drafted by them and unbeknownst to them, I already had major abdominal surgery. I went to training camp and got the trainer to rig up a little cover to go over the scar so it didn’t hurt so much when I got hit,” Ramsay related. Prior to the 1981 – ‘82 season, Ramsay had his second surgery on the same issue. “They lifted the stomach up and did a wrap around my esophagus and that created a false valve. That was the first time I didn’t have reflux. I used to have a signal with the trainer (two fingers pointed up) when I came off the ice that meant I needed two antacid pills. I chewed them up and it allowed me to get through the games. I tried a lot of different things, but none of them had worked,” Ramsay said. About two years after he retired as a player, Ramsay endured a major bleed due to an ulcer. “I almost bled out. I spit up or lost about eight units
Normally “composed and calm,” Ramsay won’t miss an opportunity to be vocal with his players when necessary.
of blood. Two years later I did it again,” Ramsay said. “It was a slow bleed, and they could never figure out what the problem was.” Upon agreeing to join Roger Neilson’s Florida Panthers coaching staff after spending 22 years as a player and coach in Buffalo, Ramsay and his wife Susan were preparing for the move to south Florida when things got much worse. Ramsay started bleeding at a charity golf event. Susan called the doctor to make an emergency appointment, but no imparity was found and he was sent home. Staying at a friends’ during the preparations to move, Ramsay began spitting up puddles of blood. He crawled out of bed and yelled for help. “I yelled for (our friend’s) daughter and said, ‘Call your dad. Call Susan, and call 911 quick.’ ” “They found an ulcer up over top of one of the prior surgeries. They fixed that and thought everything
was great, but a week later it was not so great,” Ramsay continued. “I woke up the next day and they asked if I wanted to see the pastor and that kind of stuff. I said, ‘No. Get out.’ ” Sleep deprived during the entire ordeal, Ramsay said he awoke the following day only to find himself strapped to the bed with tubes going in all directions. “They said, ‘we took your stomach out.’ I thought that’s not good. I like eating. They said I’d be OK, but you don’t know. I had never heard of that before. I had a feed tube in my side. During that stretch, I think I went through 32 units of blood and you only have 14 in your body,” Ramsay said. After a month in the hospital, Ramsay wasn’t getting any better. They flew to Florida for a consultation with Dr. Mark Sesto of the Cleveland Clinic. Being able to take in only 800 to 1,000 calories a day, Ramsay’s health was deteriorating.
ptsnorth.com | August 2010 | Points North
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