The Most Important Blue Belt Yet
by Holly McClung Reusing
Chris Guerrero was with us in the beginning when we only had three classes a week. On a Saturday in April 2009, he trained with us, left the school and did not come back. After a few weeks of missing class, we began to wonder where he was and shockingly discovered that he was in a coma after sustaining an unknown illness. For 15 harrowing months, Chris’s family, fellow police officers and friends watched him fight for survival with awe and grave uncertainty. Among the early challenges were complete kidney failure, a full tracheotomy and a gall bladder which burst, infecting his whole body, and was subsequently removed. At this time, the CDC, WHO, and FDA were investigating his case.
For 8 months, Chris was on complete life support and dialysis. He lost over 100 lbs and the ability to walk and talk. We all waited for a hopeful prognosis but the doctors continued to report uncertainty. When he miraculously emerged from this state, the heart surgery he desperately needed was delayed until his health was sufficient. Chris would have to regain some strength in order to proceed with his treatment. During the wait, Chris survived congestive heart failure and was able to receive mechanical heart valves and a pacemaker in order to survive.
When Chris tells you his story, it sounds very surreal. There are many occurrences that sound unbelievable and medically impossible. At one point he was resuscitated for 1.5 hours. The usual time limit is 15-20 minutes but the rescue team kept going. Chris says the guys mentioned later that they knew he was a SWAT officer and they said “We know who this guy is. We’re gonna keep going”. During all this Chris says he thought about jiu-jitsu all the time and just wanted to be able to come back. Sometimes he wanted to give up, but as we can happily see, he made it through those times and is here to tell us about it.
With the help of some very special friends and amazing doctors, Chris is now on the road to recovery. He has regained the ability to talk. He has learned how to walk again!!! He says his one wish while being incapacitated was to get his blue belt and come back and train. Chris still needs to take baby steps. You will find him watching our classes and doing a little yoga on Thursdays. He is swimming a alot. He says he benefits from hanging around the school and being a part of something.
This past Tuesday he shocked us by putting on a gi. He told me, “I thought about this all day long. It’s the only thing I thought about today.” In front of a big class of 40 or 50 students, Tom presented Chris with his BJJ BLUE! Many of the students watching have come along in the last year and did not know Chris before he got sick. Everyone quickly realized they were witnessing something miraculous.
Chris has a blue belt at home that Tom brought him one night at 2:00am while he was in the Los Angeles Kaiser Hospital. He was ready for the blue in April 2009, but Tom had not given it to him yet. It is amazing how deeply our goals can affect us through dark times. We did not know he was planning to put on a gi that night and step on the mats with us but we had the blue belt and a spot marked off for him since the day he stepped off the mat 15 months ago.
Chris will tell you that everything has changed. We can only try to imagine what it must have been like. Something we know for sure: We must not underestimate the power of our friendships and relationships and our personal goals and our intentions as a community.
Chris Guerrero, our beloved student and Rialto SWAT officer officially receiving his blue belt.
August 20th 2010 Posted to
News
