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Sac State's John Bloomfield to be taken off Life Support

Baller1

Baller1

Well-known member
Very sad story out of Sac State. There are much more important things in life than the Win/Loss record of a Subdivision football team.

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http://www.news10.net/news/article/212372/2/Family-prepares-to-take-football-player-off-life-support" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
SACRAMENTO, CA - A constant flow of teammates, family members and coaches visited John Bloomfield's hospital room over the past few days.

Bloomfield has been in a coma for nearly two weeks; family and friends pray for a miracle, but he'll likely be taken off life support very soon.

During the Aug. 30 game opener with New Mexico State, the Sacramento State player suffered a collapsed lung.

"[Bloomfield] got hurt in the game, he stayed down in the hospital for a few days," Sacramento State Coach Marshall Sperbeck said.

The 23-year old player came back to Sacramento .

A doctor at Mercy General Hospital performed surgery on Sept. 19 to treat Bloomfield's lung. One surgery lead to several more, but Bloomfield had suffered complications and internal bleeding.

Then the worst happened, he slipped into a coma.

"To see my child in that state would break my heart, as it has," Bloomfield's former Sierra College coach Edward Eaton said.

Now, Bloomfield's family is faced with an extremely painful decision to take him off a ventilator.

"We were basically told on Tuesday that regardless if we want to take him off the ventilator or not," Bloomfield's cousin Papiloa Bloomfield- Fifita said. "By California law it is basically and ultimately the decision of the hospital."

"Just not having John around here was tough. Cause he was such a leader and such an inspiration to our team," Sperbeck said. "So, we kind of have gone through that. I think our kids have handled it well, and they've been supportive to his family."

"We would ask for prayers," Bloomfield- Fifita said. "John was an incredible soul, he was happy all the time; he was a man of God."
 
That is so sad. I watched that game and remember the injury, which didn't seem that out of the ordinary.
 
Here is an earlier article from Sept. 30th

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/29/4864768/hometown-report-hornets-bloomfield.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The mother stands vigil outside her son's hospital room. He is in a coma, prognosis grim.

Tubes snake out of John Bloomfield's mouth and nose. Monitors beep and hum above him. Family and friends stop by room 364-A at Mercy Hospital in endless streams of support.

They come to pray, to hold Bloomfield's hand, to touch his face, to whisper to him. They miss him. They want him back.

The coach in the hallway consoles the mother. They share stories about Bloomfield. The young man, the son, the brother, the Sacramento State defensive end known for his energy and shock of Tongan hair jetting out the back of his helmet like a vapor trail. The coach, Marshall Sperbeck, marvels at the journey the 6-foot-1, 245-pound senior made just to get into college. The mother, Stella, speaks about her son's gentle spirit and dreams of becoming a preacher, how similar they are from personality to hair.

Sperbeck sighs. His eyes are red from lack of sleep and swelling emotions. Today, Sac State is in Pocatello, Idaho, to play Idaho State in a Big Sky Conference game. Sperbeck understands his team will remain in room 364-A in spirit. A radio broadcasting today's game will be by Bloomfield's side.

"So hard on all our guys and on John's family," Sperbeck offered softly Friday.

Bloomfield entered Mercy on Sept. 19 to treat a collapsed lung. He experienced discomfort following Sac State's season opener on Aug. 30 at New Mexico State. Stella said the 4,000-foot altitude in Las Cruces, N.M., affected her son's breathing. One surgery last week became two, then three.

There were complications, including internal bleeding, and then he lapsed into a coma, Stella said.

"It's hard to see John like this because we're used to him being so active, so happy," Stella says.

She rattles off tales of her son, masking her grief with giggles. Soon, she explains, the family will have to make an unthinkable decision.

"As a mother, you can't do this alone," Stella says. "The support, the love here, it keeps me going. But we have to decide this weekend when to take John off life support. There's nothing more we can do. He'll be in God's hands, but it's such a hard decision. … Something a mother should never have to do for a son."

Stella pauses, then adds: "I'm so happy for the man my son became. It wasn't easy for him growing up."

After a Sierra College football practice two years ago, Bloomfield said he was delighted to attend college, the first in his family to do so. Bloomfield grew up poor in East Palo Alto, where he said "there was trouble on every corner waiting to take you in." He spoke about an older brother who committed "the worst kind" of crimes and is serving a life sentence in prison.

"I've been a role model to my younger siblings: Do good things, the right thing, and go to school," he said.

Bloomfield moved to Oregon when he was 15 to live with an uncle, a pastor. A fresh start. That family moved to Sacramento in 2008 and merged with Bloomfield's parents. They sought out a Tongan base and found Grant High School in Del Paso Heights. Bloomfield played linebacker on Grant's 2008 state championship team. He treasures that ring, Stella says, and will be buried with it.

Bloomfield wound up at Sierra and promised his parents he would graduate with multiple four-year degrees. He took a bus at 6 each summer morning from south Sacramento to Sac State for an early start on study hall and was on track to graduate in ethnic studies.

"We recruited him out of Sierra knowing he was an academic risk, but getting to know him, what kind of young man he was, he was worth it," Sperbeck explains. "He's unlike any kid I've ever coached. The drive, commitment, unselfishness, how he works with others, and he's a captain and a role model to all our guys."

On Thursday, 32 Sac State players visited room 364-A. Stella said no one was surprised to see Bloomfield in his favorite green Hornets football T-shirt, the same one he wore the day Sac State beat Colorado in Boulder on Sept. 8. Bloomfield didn't make the trip because he was healing from his lung issues, but he danced around his couch to celebrate the triumph.

Late that evening, Bloomfield greeted the Hornets upon their return to campus. He stood on top of a pickup, waving a Sac State flag, shouting, the horn honking, the hazard lights on.

The mother hears this and looks upward. She runs her hands across her face. She nods and watches Sperbeck hold her son's hand. Sperbeck tells his defensive end that it's time to go to practice. Sperbeck and Stella embrace for a long moment. Both are crying.

Stella has one final wish.

"Please come back for just a moment, John, wake up and say one last thing before you go, please," she said. She knows the message would be mutual. Goodbye.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/29/4864768/hometown-report-hornets-bloomfield.html#storylink=cpy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
John passed away this morning...incredibly sad situation. It appears that something went wrong during his surgery for a collapsed lung and his brain was deprived of blood for too long.

Really puts perspective to what is basically a game. Young man had overcome many obstacles. RIP John

http://blogs.sacbee.com/preps/archives/2012/10/sacramento-state-football-player-john-bloomfield-d.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
That is terrible. To lose someone at that age and at the peak of their physical prowess is devastating. I lost my best friend at the same peak in life and it's something you just don't recover from. How awful for his family. My thoughts go out to him and his family. Chin up, Sac State. Hope that their team can rally behind his memory.
 
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