Kubiak's Health Issues Put A Focus On Stroke Awareness
DENVER (CBS4) - Former Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak did not go into any health details in his departing news conference on Monday, but his issues are well known to those who have followed his career.
It was Nov. 3, 2013, and Kubiak was then the head coach of the Houston Texans. After the conclusion of the game he had to be taken out on a gurney. He had suffered what's called a TIA or a mini stroke.
At the Rocky Mountain Stroke Center, which provides information to those who have suffered strokes, they see it too often.
"Once you've had one you need to not mess around do what your doctor is advising you to do," Esther Fretz, the executive director of the center, told CBS4.
It appears Kubiak did not let up. After a leave of absence he eventually continued his coaching career, joining the Baltimore Ravens as an offensive coordinator and then joining the Broncos and leading them to a Super Bowl victory in his first season here.
LINK: StrokeColorado.org
"Demanding high stress situations can certainly contribute to one being at more risk of a health incident," Fretz said.
Then this season after the game against Atlanta, Kubiak was taken by ambulance to a hospital. This time it was determined to be what's called a "complex migraine."
Dr. Sharon Poisson, a vascular neurologist at the University of Colorado Medical Center, told CBS4 in October that "it can be associated with focal neurologic symptoms or symptoms that look a lot like stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack."
Now, apparently unwilling to compromise his style of coaching, Kubiak realized it was time to call it quits. He said in Monday's news conference "I'm okay, but coaching is a very demanding business."
He could no longer do it his way.
An estimated 40 of those who suffer mini-strokes go on to have full blown strokes. The results can be devastating.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
