A Profile in Courage: Kevin Reynolds - Part 1

As a 6’1" 265-pound freshman center for the Green Knights, Kevin Reynolds was the epitome of strength and health. He was, until April of his freshman year at the De Pere, Wisconsin college when something went wrong.

He faced a series of health problems complicated by a staph infection in his heart that changed the course of his life.

Kevin was initially diagnosed with mononucleosis. Further tests revealed that he had an infarct, or blockage, in his kidney.

More tests revealed that Reynolds had a staph infection of the mitral valve of his heart. He also had experienced three mild strokes as a result of the infection. Additional lab tests showed a rare deficiency in his immune system that couldn’t be pinpointed. Doctors put him on antibiotics hoping to prevent further infection.

In April of 2010, due to the deterioration of his mitral valve, Kevin had to have open-heart surgery at Northwestern Hospital. A cow valve was implanted as a replacement.

After recovering from surgery, Kevin spent the summer working as a day camp counselor for the Grayslake Park District. He looked forward to returning to school at St. Norbert. He was slated to be the starting center in the fall of 2011 for the Green Knights football squad.

Things were looking up and the worst appeared over. But then he faced a new medical problem.

In the first week of November 2010, Kevin saw "floaters" – a visual sign of strokes occurring in his body. Kevin suffered over 20 strokes that left him paralyzed on his right side and the resultant aphasia left him without speech.

"I wasn’t in a coma," Kevin said, "but I don’t remember anything between that time and the first week of December."

The staph infection had come back with a vengeance and attacked his heart. As the infection broke up and traveled through his bloodstream, it attacked his brain and incapacitated him. The emboli damaged the left half of his brain which controls the right side of his body and speech.

Kevin's parents, Dave and Jody Reynolds, were then faced with a mind-numbing dilemma concerning their son. The surgeon at Northwestern wanted to operate immediately on Kevin’s heart due to the rapid deterioration of his heart’s mitral valve, but the neurologist said that the surgery could do massive damage to Reynolds’s brain and leave him in a vegetative state if he even survived the surgery.

It was decided that surgery would have to wait until the emboli stopped attacking the brain. The next 24 hours took their toll on Dave and Jody, but strong community support pulled them through.

"People held prayer services at their homes for us," said Jody. "Pat’s Pizza put up on their sign to say a prayer for Kevin. It was just amazing. People asked what can we do and I said just say a prayer. So many prayed for us that didn’t even know Kevin."

She said the support came from people near and far.

"Former teachers of his who were off in other countries sent emails to him and offered support through Facebook," Jody said. "Friends of Kevin’s would send messages on Facebook and his brothers would read them to him. Grayslake Central sent tons of messages."

"Duane and Julie Bell were our main communicators with the community," said Dave. "Steve and Julie Hupp helped us with the Caring Bridge services and Duane and Julie set up our link for us. The community support was overwhelming."

"It was such a comfort just knowing that so many people in Grayslake and all over were praying for us and had us in their thoughts," Jody said.

But they were concerned about Kevin's surgery. The surgeon had to walk a proverbial tightrope because if Kevin had any bleeding, the surgeon could not give him any medicine to stop it. Kevin’s surgery was extremely successful. The nurses told the Reynolds that all of his vital signs after surgery were exceedingly good.

The neurologist said that if Kevin could get through the heart surgery there was a good chance his brain could relearn the skills it had lost because he was so young. There was a strong possibility that the healthy areas of the brain would take over the tasks from the damaged areas.

To learn what happened next, click here.