Giants ex-coach Tom Coughlin revealed on Tuesday that his wife, Judy, was diagnosed with an incurable brain disorder that has cost him almost all of his ability to speak and move.
“As so many of you are preparing for another NFL season, I will be sitting away from the sidelines, at the head of the bed and holding the hand of my biggest fan, my beloved wife, the mother of our children and a grandmother to our grandchildren. “Coughlin wrote in an essay published in the New York Times.
Coughlin said he has been the primary caregiver of his wife, who in 2020 was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy after first showing symptoms four years ago.
“We saw him helpless from a kind woman with a gift for conversation, hugging everyone he met and making them feel like they were the most important person in the room, until he lost almost all of his ability. to talk and move, ”Coughlin said of his 54-year-old wife.
Coughlin, 74, decided to share his family’s story after someone asked him why Judy hadn’t been in the photos of the events of the Jay Fund Foundation, a non-profit organization created by Coughlin for children with cancer.
“Judy’s decline has been nothing but heartbreaking and has put me in a club with tens of millions of other Americans serving as the primary caregiver of a loved one,” said Coughlin, who led the Giants in two Super Bowls and most recently did football operations for the Jaguars before releasing him in 2019. “It’s true that going from being with an NFL franchise to a full-time caregiver wasn’t easy. It’s not easy yet. The playbook is changing every minute or so suddenly repetitive, losing the notion of time and of oneself. “
Nearly one in five Americans provides unpaid care to an adult with health or functional needs, according to a CareGiving.org report.
“I’ve learned that first-hand care consumes everything,” Coughlin said. “It’s mentally and physically exhausting. Sometimes you just need a break … I’ve spent my whole life preparing for some of the greatest games a person could play, but nothing can prepare you to be a caregiver who has to see how a loved one s ‘escape’.