On the court again

By Christopher Drexel

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008 | 1:55 a.m.

The last thing Sheryl Krmpotich remembers about July 21 is riding her bicycle through a park by her house near Valle Verde Drive and Interstate 215.

It was 115 degrees out and Krmpotich, coach of the three-time defending state champion Bishop Gorman girls basketball team, intended to cool off in the park's fountains.

But she never made it to them.

Shortly after entering the park, Krmpotich called her mother, Joann, to say she had been in a bike accident and needed help. To this day, the coach doesn't remember making the call.

Krmpotich had no idea where she was and gave her mother wrong directions. She called back minutes later, and a man who had witnessed the crash informed Krmpotich's mother of her whereabouts.

When her family arrived, they found a barely conscious Krmpotich covered in blood and rushed her to the hospital. She was in the trauma unit for more than a day and she went through four or five intravenous bags.

"I didn't recognize my best friend when she visited me," Krmpotich said. "I didn't know who the president was and I didn't know what year it was."

Doctors said she passed out due to dehydration and crashed into a rock bed next to the sidewalk, she said.

Krmpotich, 38, returned to the scene of the accident weeks later and found blood still in the rocks and piece of her broken glasses.

She suffered a fractured skull, a broken eye socket and a broken cheek bone as well as cuts all over her body. She initially couldn't open her jaw and her face was swollen for two weeks.

Krmpotich, who also teaches health at Gorman, didn't return to the school until Sept. 22, a month into the school year.

Four months after the accident, the coach's face is mostly healed, but she still suffers from severe headaches, uncharacteristic fatigue, dizziness and short-term memory loss. She also hasn't regained complete feeling on the right side of her face yet.

"I look like I'm fine, but on the inside I'm not," Krmpotich said. "I'm not used to going to bed at 8. One time I came back from practice and fell asleep at 5:30 — that never happens."

She also said she suffers from short-term memory loss.

"I'll tell my class something and the next day I'll say, 'Did I tell you this?'" she said. "It's very annoying and has progressively gotten worse."

While she had to miss many of her team's several workouts earlier this fall, Krmpotich was back with the her team Nov. 15 for the first day of official practice.

"There was definitely something missing when she wasn't here," assistant coach Mike Carter said. "Her intensity and enthusiasm for the kids brings out the best in them."

Krmpotich, who is entering her 11th year, is credited with turning Gorman into a dynasty. The Gaels had never won a state championship until they won the first of three consecutive in 2006.

During Krmpoitch's tenure, 19 Gaels have advanced to play Division I basketball.

Dannielle Diamant, a senior post player who signed to play at Northwestern, said the program would be nowhere without Krmpotich.

"To me, she's everything," Diamant said. "It's definitely amazing what she's been through how she can come back and practice with us."

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or [email protected].