Gerald Green is back to work at Waukegan High School, trying to get truant students into school.
“I see some kids and know that if they put forth more effort, they can go a long way,” said Green, who has come a long way in the last two months.
In August, the former Waukegan West High School football and track star was fighting for his life against a staph infection and an invasive Group A streptococcal infection, a rare illness also known as flesh-eating disease.
The infections rooted themselves in a sore on Green’s left foot and infected his leg and bloodstream. He suffered respiratory failure and was assisted by a ventilator for weeks at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Unconscious for four weeks, Green awoke Aug. 25 with no recollection of his struggles but with an eagerness to return home to his pregnant wife, Melissa, and their 5-year-old son, Payton.
“My son’s first words were, `Are you OK? When are you getting out of the hospital and when can we watch cartoons together?'” Green, 40, said. “My spirits picked up 100 percent.”
His doctors discharged him from the hospital in early September, and he returned to work Sept. 10, two months ahead of schedule–although he was still weak physically. Green works with the school’s attendance office, handling truancy, and also hopes to return to coach the shot put for the school’s track team. Green set a state high school record in the shot put in 1979 and went on to play fullback at Wisconsin.
Since 1994, Green has overcome critical illness or injuries three times. He was resuscitated from death three times after he was shot while being robbed in Kenosha in 1994.
Three years later he became paralyzed by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder that causes the body’s immune system to attack part of the nervous system. Green regained use of his arms but only partial use of his legs.
He speaks openly about his struggles with students and encourages them to overcome their own setbacks.
“I tell them day-to-day, it’s not easy for me to get up, it’s not easy to come to work,” Green said. “It’s something I have to do. I have to set an example for my son, to show him that you never give up.
“You always keep trying, and down the line, it’ll work out for you.”
