Lake Stevens rallies for coach Kyle Bigham

Published 11:14 pm Thursday, September 18, 2008

LAKE STEVENS — One of the first lessons Kyle Bigham said he teaches football linemen is: Get used to being ignored.

Do your work and don’t look for pats on the back, he tells them. That’s how it is in football: Quarterbacks, running backs and receivers get the attention, while linemen perform an essential role that often goes unnoticed.

“You will always be workhorses,” Bigham tells them, “and not get your name in the paper.”

But that’s not always true.

Bigham, a former lineman at Bothell High School and Shasta College in Redding, Calif., has received plenty of attention lately.

He was in the spotlight Thursday during a dinner and auction at Lake Stevens High School. The goal was to raise money to help Bigham, an assistant football coach at the school, pay for living expenses and medical costs.

“I would have to say I’m overwhelmed by that,” Bigham said Thursday morning when asked about the fundraiser.

Two weeks ago Bigham, 31, collapsed before the start of the Lake Stevens football team’s season-opening game at Mariner. Medical personnel performed CPR and stabilized the coach — a large man nicknamed “Biggs” — before he was rushed to the Colby Campus of Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

Bigham’s condition gradually improved and on Sept. 9 doctors implanted a heart defibrillator. An irregular heart beat caused the collapse, said Don Bigham, Kyle’s father, and the defibrillator is supposed to shock the heart into a normal rhythm if it falters again.

The defibrillator is essentially “an insurance policy,” Don Bigham said.

But that brings up one of the Bigham family’s challenges — Kyle Bigham doesn’t have medical insurance and has no income. He was a volunteer coach at Lake Stevens. He had been working as a taxi driver but won’t return to work anytime soon.

“We’ve had a tough time figuring this out,” Don Bigham said.

The Lake Stevens community pitched in to help. In addition to the Thursday fundraiser, which organizers said they hoped would generate about $15,000, football players and other concerned members of the community teamed up to raise money for Bigham with previous projects.

“It’s about family and ‘Biggs’ is one of our family members,” Lake Stevens head football coach Tom Tri said. “When we’re down and out, let’s find ways to pick each other up.”

The day after Bigham collapsed, Lake Stevens cheerleaders and football players raised about $1,500 for the coach, said Terri Albertsen, president of the high school’s Cheerleader Booster Club. The students sold hot dogs, chips and soda at the local Haggen grocery store, and some football players gathered donations at a youth game at Cavelero Mid High School.

The fundraising efforts will put only a small dent in Bigham’s looming medical bills. But the assistance is much appreciated. It’s been “amazing and outstanding,” said Bigham, who has been living at his parents’ home in Bothell for a week.

Needing help is a strange feeling for Bigham.

“It’s hard for me,” he said, “because I feel like I’m the strong one, and I went down. Now they’re taking care of me.

“It definitely tugs at the heartstrings.”

Bigham, who was beginning his third year as an assistant coach at Lake Stevens High, clearly made an impact on Nick Baker. Baker, the starting varsity quarterback, often talked to Bigham during offseason weightlifting sessions.

Baker was one of more than 60 players who signed a football and a helmet for Bigham after practice Tuesday. He also helped organize the fundraisers.

“When the community gets involved after something tragic happened like (Bigham’s collapse), and all the players show interest in it, it just brings the community closer,” Baker said.

Bo Dickinson, a senior standout on the team, was one of several players who visited Bigham at the hospital. Unfortunately, because Bigham suffered short-term memory loss after his collapse, he doesn’t remember some of those interactions. But the players’ presence was important.

“He’s always glad to see his kids,” Don Bigham said.

Kyle Bigham, whose memory is improving, said he would love to attend the Lake Stevens football team’s home opener tonight against Stanwood. Last week he listened to the Vikings’ 35-21 victory over Glacier Peak over the Internet.

He can’t wait to be with his football family again.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Bigham said. “I’ve started to feel like my old self a little bit.”

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com.

Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.