Neuro Note - Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story

For my final neuro note for this class, I chose to watch Quite Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story on Netflix. Charlie was a football star at Michigan State and was married with 2 children. He began his career as a teacher at Los Gatos High School in California, where he was then offered the position as head football coach. One day while teaching, he noticed he couldn’t grip the chalk. He slowly started to lose some mobility and strength in his fingers and hands. He did not think much of it since he played football his entire life. After six months, he decided to go to the doctor and get it checked out. He was referred to this hospital for electroencephalogram and a myelogram. It was determined that his diagnosis was Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He was absolutely crushed and was in disbelief. One thing he said was that no matter what he was not going to give up coaching and wanted his team to win the state championship. His symptoms progressed rapidly as he struggled to shave, hold eating utensils, and was falling at football games and around the house. When he started to lose his speech, the school wanted him to step down as coach and he refused. He had to explain to them that cognitively, he was fine. He told them he was not going to quit or step down, and he would coach until he was no longer able to. One day he was rushed to the ER and had no other option but to have a tracheotomy for breathing. This meant he was no longer able to speak or breath on his own. He was scheduled to coach the all-star game and the doctor at the hospital would not release him to attend the game. They brought in a TV and phone, his wife read his lips as he watched the game and she used the phone to tell the other coach the plays. As his symptoms got worse and worse, he became more determined to continue coaching. He wanted to coach one final season to not only win a state championship, but to teach his players life lessons. He wanted to teach them to never give up on their dreams and that it wasn’t always about winning. He attended every game of the season as he communicated by eye movement and his wife reading his lips. At the final game of the season, he made the decision to put their best player Skinner in on defense to win the game. Skinner blocked the kick, and his dream of winning the state championship finally came true. Charlie went on to be a motivational speaker and was the assistant coach of the football team until he passed.

I chose to watch this movie, because I have always wanted to know more about ALS after the well known “ice bucket challenge” went viral. Since I love sports, I knew this true story would be a great way for me to see how ALS affects someone and learn more about the disease. Through watching this movie, I learned how fast this diagnosis progresses and how much it can have an effect on not only the individual, but also the family. He relied on his wife and kids to be his caregivers. I also learned that this disease should not prevent someone from continuing to live life to its fullest and continue to do what is meaningful to you. I believe his determination and passion for football helped him live with the diagnosis in a more positive way. I highly recommend watching this movie, as it shows the raw emotions and challenges of ALS.

Campanella, R.  (1988, December 26). Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story. [Video]. Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/search?q=quiet&jbv=70206819&jbp=0&jbr=0