Eddie Gran's special needs daughter gave him perspective on life
Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader wrote one of the best stories I have a read in a long time. Smith tells the story of Kentucky's new offensive coordinator, Eddie Gran, and how the death of his daughter changed his life.
Sydney Gran, the third of Gran's four daughters, was born with Holoprosencephaly or "HPE" and was given only weeks to live. Doctors said she would never walk or talk and there was no way to fix it.
“Every morning when you wake up you’re not sure if this is the day she’s going to quit breathing,” Eddie said. “And that’s an awful way to live. We were miserable.”During this difficult time, Gran found peace in his faith and relationship with God. Gran believed in God and attended church whenever he could but considered himself a "fence rider" when came to true faith.
“Any time you’re faced with the difficulty of a special-needs child who is going to die – a very short life expectancy – you can’t get through that without God,” Rosemary, Eddie's former wife, said. “We started trusting that God had given her to us to care for her, to be part of our family.”
Sydney lived just a month shy of her sixth birthday, a lot longer than doctors had projected. Her life was short, but she touched the lives of almost everyone she encountered.
“She just kept fighting. She smiled some; she said a couple of words, which they said she’d never do, and she did. … Two or three weeks to live and she lived almost six years. She was a fighter. She was supposed to stay around for a reason.”
Gran said that Sydney taught him a great sense of what is important in life. This look on life has carried into his coaching and how he treats his players. To read the full story on Eddie Gran and his daughter, click here. I highly recommend it.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard