By J. Louise Larson

Waxahachie Daily Light



ENNIS (AP) — Sam Harrell believes he may be the luckiest man alive.

Even though he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005 — a diagnosis he and wife Kathy shielded from friends and family until recently — the Ennis Lions football coach counts his many blessings.

In 2005 Harrell first noticed the vision in one eye was going blurry, a condition that would worsen with heat and exercise. An eye specialist referred him to a neurologist, and three tests all pointed to a devastating diagnosis: multiple sclerosis. His immune system was ravaging itself, eating away the myelin sheath surrounding the nerves.

“Heat plays a huge role. If your body gets hot, through weather or exercise, your nerves start firing faster. When you have MS and your nerves start firing faster, then your symptoms — balance and coordination,walking — all that just escalates,” he said.

Multiple sclerosis is a very individualistic disease; each case is unique and often unpredictable. Since Sams symptoms werent always apparent, the Harrells kept to business as usual and decided to keep the diagnosis to themselves.

“We chose to keep it quiet for several years. We didnt even tell our boys because we didnt want them worrying about it. They had an idea something was wrong. I didnt ever go out and shoot baskets with them any more, I didnt play tennis with them, I cant mow the yard, I cant do anything you ought to be doing. They had an idea‚ we never told them exactly what Dad had,” he said.

“I wasnt in denial. I knew I had it, but it would kind of come and go. My hope was that it would go more often than it would come,” he said.

This spring, the Harrells decided it was time to tell their sons.

Football is part of the familys fabric. Graham Harrell, a quarterback, helped lead Texas Tech to its best season ever last year; Zac Harrell coaches at the high school level in Texas; and Clark Harrell transferred to Abilene Christian from Tulsa last summer as a quarterback.

Harrell also went to the school board and told them.

“I feel like our school boards a great group of people, but also my bosses, and I didnt want them hearing about it and not knowing something about it. I told our players and our coaches‚ all those groups are special to me and close to me and I wanted them to hear it from me,” he said.

While he looks like the same Sam Harrell — and he feels like the same Sam Harrell — the moment he tries to jump rope or jog like he did in the old days, that normal feeling subsides quickly, he said. Hes been on medication since the disease was discovered, and careful management can keep symptoms at bay to some degree.

“The thing thats kind of disappointing is that the neurologists here have nothing that really gives you much hope. All they can do is say keep on this medication and hope it slows down, hope it doesnt overtake your whole nervous system before they find a cure,” he said.

Looking ahead, Sam Harrell says he is encouraged by accounts of medical advances being achieved outside of the strict U.S. regulatory environment.

“Outside the U.S., some things are being done that people have had phenomenal results with, and thats been encouraging. I really think theres going to be a cure for it‚ thats what Im hoping for. Its been encouraging to hear those stories and talk with people,” he said.

“I really think I will go outside U.S. and do something. Ive heard of two different procedures I really think Ill try,” he said.

One procedure being done in Costa Rica involves the use of adult stem cells by American doctors. “Its very expensive, but thats a hurdle I can try to tackle for hope of a cure,” he said.

“I get excited when I talk to those people who have gone outside the country, because theyve come back with a story of hope,” he said, recounting the story of a young father who left the country requiring a scooter for mobility and returned able to walk on his own and play with his young boys once again.

“Im still hopeful for a cure‚ I’m serious about that. These people who have tried some of these things; they dont feel better, they feel cured. Thats what Im hoping for. Then I can still live in Texas,” he said.

“I just dont see myself going anywhere but Texas, even though the weather would be a relief and would allow me to do a little more. Its sure hard to take the Texas out of me,” he said.

Harrell says hes adamant about one thing he has never asked for: sympathy.

“People dont die from MS ... I dont want to make is sound like Poor pitiful me ... a lot of people are facing tougher things than that.

“It takes away the things you do, but it doesnt take away your life,” he said.

Harrells office is filled with memorabilia of years of coaching success‚ evidence of back-to-back 4A state football championships‚ and three state prizes within five years. He was named to the Gordon Wood Hall of Fame; he got to coach his own sons on great teams. He was elected to coach the All Star team in 2002, and last year he was elected president of the Texas High School Coach Association.

These are the blessings he counts, on a daily basis.

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