Neuro Note 2
All my life I've grown up watching different sports whenever my aunt was in town - basketball, baseball, football, men's, women's. It didn't matter to her, it was just a love of athletics. I also developed this love as I aged, and participated in many sports throughout my school aged years. As I continued to grow up, she would talk about specific sports, teams, and even coaches. She had a real admiration for a specific coach, Pat Summit. I mean really who can blame her though, whether you were a Tennessee fan or not, you knew greatness when you saw it. Pat was a legend. From the way she coached her players, to the way she presented herself off the court, even to her interactions with her son. She was an individual who changed the face of UT Lady Vols basketball and for all who loved the game.
This is why when given a second assignment over neurological disease, I knew I had to look into the disease that affected an icon. If you don't know much about Pat (like I really didn't), then I would highly recommend watching Pat XO, which can be found on YouTube. The video documents so many players, fellow coaches, teammates, and family of Summit. She was hard on her players about classes, honesty, and hard work, which followed them later into life, and they only had Pat to thank for the women they had become. The coach would proudly tell anyone that she had a 100% graduation rate from her players. I think that is why so many respected the coach - it was about more than basketball, it was about life.
Pat was diagnosed at the age of 59 (year 2011) with early onset dementia, the Alzheimer's type. No one could believe the news when they heard it - tears were shed throughout the community. But, not from Pat. She continued to have her positive outlook, even with such an impacting diagnosis. She continued to coach as long as she could, until she finally felt that it was time to step down from almost 4 decades as head coach. However, that did not stop her from continuing to be apart of her Tennessee community. She started The Pat Summit Foundation as an opportunity to help others with similar diagnoses. Her radiance of positivity allowed others to move forward with their situations and have the same new outlook on life.
Normally when you hear the word "Alzheimer's," it is coupled with sadness and loss of hope. Pat Summit challenged people to change the way they look at the disease. She didn't let it consume her life and encouraged others to do the same. I highly recommend looking into Pat and her time with Alzheimer's before she passed away in 2016. It is a very inspiring recap about a women who wouldn't quit.
Sincerely,
The Young OTS
Here are links to the resources I used:
http://www.patsummitt.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTPZVsnJHOQ
This is why when given a second assignment over neurological disease, I knew I had to look into the disease that affected an icon. If you don't know much about Pat (like I really didn't), then I would highly recommend watching Pat XO, which can be found on YouTube. The video documents so many players, fellow coaches, teammates, and family of Summit. She was hard on her players about classes, honesty, and hard work, which followed them later into life, and they only had Pat to thank for the women they had become. The coach would proudly tell anyone that she had a 100% graduation rate from her players. I think that is why so many respected the coach - it was about more than basketball, it was about life.
Pat was diagnosed at the age of 59 (year 2011) with early onset dementia, the Alzheimer's type. No one could believe the news when they heard it - tears were shed throughout the community. But, not from Pat. She continued to have her positive outlook, even with such an impacting diagnosis. She continued to coach as long as she could, until she finally felt that it was time to step down from almost 4 decades as head coach. However, that did not stop her from continuing to be apart of her Tennessee community. She started The Pat Summit Foundation as an opportunity to help others with similar diagnoses. Her radiance of positivity allowed others to move forward with their situations and have the same new outlook on life.
Normally when you hear the word "Alzheimer's," it is coupled with sadness and loss of hope. Pat Summit challenged people to change the way they look at the disease. She didn't let it consume her life and encouraged others to do the same. I highly recommend looking into Pat and her time with Alzheimer's before she passed away in 2016. It is a very inspiring recap about a women who wouldn't quit.
Sincerely,
The Young OTS
Here are links to the resources I used:
http://www.patsummitt.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTPZVsnJHOQ
"Right foot, left foot, breathe."
- Pat Summit
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