Football helps Reed deal with upcoming cancer battle

COLDWATER — Coldwater football coach John Reed has faced many battles on the gridiron during his 15 years leading the Cavaliers.

But after the Cavaliers face Youngstown Ursuline in the Division V state championship on Friday, Reed will face a new challenge when he begins his fight against esophageal cancer.

“It had been about four weeks with the pain,” Reed said. “Then they (doctors) took my gall bladder out; it wasn’t the gall bladder. They did a scope and found something they did not like and it came back cancer. That was about five weeks ago. The pain continues to intensify. It just gets more and more and more severe.”

Despite the pain, Reed continues to coach. During his tenure, the Cavaliers have compiled a 168-30 record, made eight appearances in the state semifinals, five trips to the finals and won two state championships.

“The football has really helped me not to concentrate on the pain,” Reed said. “If all I was doing was sitting around thinking about the pain, I would go nuts. It’s been a great diversion. Just being with the coaches and the kids; those relationships are so important. That’s what gets you through difficult times.”

Reed, who is quick to deflect accolades to his players and assistant coaches, needed assistance leaving the field after Coldwater’s 35-24 semifinal win against Patrick Henry last Friday. The excitement of the victory was quickly turned into silence as Reed needed several minutes to get back to his feet.

“I felt so badly about taking away the attention from the kids and the great victory and from Patrick Henry,” Reed said. “That is my greatest regret. It was an accident. Somebody ran into me and I went down right where I have the greatest amount of pain.”

Just as Reed uses football to teach his players about life, he is using cancer to do the same.

“We always tell the kids that everything happens for a reason,” Reed said. “There is a purpose in all things. A lot of times we have no idea what that reason or purpose is, but we have to believe that. We just can’t say it when it is happening to someone else. We have to say it when it is happening to us, too.”

Reed has the same team of doctors that Lance Armstrong saw in Indianapolis and knows there is a one in three chance of recovery, but he remains optimistic and leans on his faith. In addition to coaching, Reed is a guidance counselor at Coldwater High School and has been a preacher for many years.

“This is something that the Lord has allowed me to experience for whatever reason,” Reed said. “I just want to be sure to do it to His glory. If I do it to His glory, I know everything is going to be O.K. It isn’t doom and gloom for me at all. This is a win-win situation for me. If God decides to heal me then He will be glorified. If God decides not to heal me in the way that we think of being healed then I will be glorified with my Savior.”

Beginning Monday, Reed will have six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation followed by surgery in February.

“It’s really hard for people to talk about cancer because they do not know what to say,” Reed said. “You want people to be themselves because you are not any different other than the cancer you are going through.”

In an attempt to keep his players and coaches up to date, Reed has been open with his team.

“The best thing I try to do is keep the kids abreast of everything that is going on,” Reed said. “As I found out, I told them. They feel uncomfortable around me. I said to them that cancer is not contagious. It’s not going to jump off of me and on to you; it’s not like a cold.”

Senior defensive end/offensive tackle, Eric Lefeld, has not noticed a big change in Reed.

“You can’t tell he’s sick,” Lefeld said. “It is almost like he did not miss a beat. He told us about it right away, but we don’t focus on it. There is more motivation. Giving him a win, what’s better than that?”