USA TODAY
Rudy Martzke
Posted 8/13/2003 1:11 AM
Mortensen's life-changing experience
ESPN's Chris Mortensen found a unique reason to rededicate himself to his job as the cable network's key NFL information man.
He nearly died.
Mortensen, 51, beginning his 13th year with ESPN, suffered a tick bite more than two weeks ago at his 87-acre farm near Atlanta that caused fever and headaches and filled his lungs with fluid, raising his temperature above 104 for several days.
His life was saved when a doctor determined that the illness was not Rocky Mountain spotted fever or malaria but an even rarer strain common to men above 50 without spleens. Mortensen (whose spleen was removed after a high school football injury) was released from a hospital Friday and resumed his information gathering Tuesday for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown.
"They told me they almost lost me. It was very sobering," Mortensen said Tuesday. "There were a lot of medical people in my room. I was seeing a lot of angels. This changes you. I hope it rejuvenates my passion for my job."
Mortensen, whose son Alex has been recruited by many major colleges as a quarterback, had been scheduled to tour NFL training camps in late July. But he delayed his trip a couple of days when the illness — later diagnosed by internist Fred Willms as Babesia microti — forced him to a hospital in Fayetteville, Ga.
"I told the doctors I hope you tell me it's terminal to justify how terrible I'm feeling," said Mortensen, a former sportswriter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The National.
Days later the illness nearly rose to the terminal stage.
"My lungs were under attack, filling up with fluid, the fever was out of control and I developed a body rash," Mortensen said. "If it wasn't for the relentlessness of my wife, Micki, and Dr. Willms, I might be gone."
Willms informed Mortensen of his diagnosis of Babesia microti, which is caused by ticks living in small animals.
"The fever acted like he had malaria, but he didn't, so then you think of the conditions he had," Willms said. "The key was that he had no spleen, and people without spleens get deathly ill with this. It wasn't all that difficult."
A grateful Mortensen, who hopes to resume TV reports Monday, said, "Others have told me the doctor performed a miracle.
"When a doctor sees hoof prints, he's supposed to look for a horse. He looked for a zebra, not a horse, and found one."
Rudy Martzke
Posted 8/13/2003 1:11 AM
Mortensen's life-changing experience
ESPN's Chris Mortensen found a unique reason to rededicate himself to his job as the cable network's key NFL information man.
He nearly died.
Mortensen, 51, beginning his 13th year with ESPN, suffered a tick bite more than two weeks ago at his 87-acre farm near Atlanta that caused fever and headaches and filled his lungs with fluid, raising his temperature above 104 for several days.
His life was saved when a doctor determined that the illness was not Rocky Mountain spotted fever or malaria but an even rarer strain common to men above 50 without spleens. Mortensen (whose spleen was removed after a high school football injury) was released from a hospital Friday and resumed his information gathering Tuesday for ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown.
"They told me they almost lost me. It was very sobering," Mortensen said Tuesday. "There were a lot of medical people in my room. I was seeing a lot of angels. This changes you. I hope it rejuvenates my passion for my job."
Mortensen, whose son Alex has been recruited by many major colleges as a quarterback, had been scheduled to tour NFL training camps in late July. But he delayed his trip a couple of days when the illness — later diagnosed by internist Fred Willms as Babesia microti — forced him to a hospital in Fayetteville, Ga.
"I told the doctors I hope you tell me it's terminal to justify how terrible I'm feeling," said Mortensen, a former sportswriter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The National.
Days later the illness nearly rose to the terminal stage.
"My lungs were under attack, filling up with fluid, the fever was out of control and I developed a body rash," Mortensen said. "If it wasn't for the relentlessness of my wife, Micki, and Dr. Willms, I might be gone."
Willms informed Mortensen of his diagnosis of Babesia microti, which is caused by ticks living in small animals.
"The fever acted like he had malaria, but he didn't, so then you think of the conditions he had," Willms said. "The key was that he had no spleen, and people without spleens get deathly ill with this. It wasn't all that difficult."
A grateful Mortensen, who hopes to resume TV reports Monday, said, "Others have told me the doctor performed a miracle.
"When a doctor sees hoof prints, he's supposed to look for a horse. He looked for a zebra, not a horse, and found one."
