For Bill MacFarlane, husband, father, one of life’s 24-karat gems and veteran public address announcer, it was a rewarding step back into a life he is hoping to regain.
It was also an evening filled with positive intentions achieved after an uphill climb of mountainous proportions.
Always a goal-setter and a star-reacher, MacFarlane was a gifted college football lineman in his athletic heyday. This time, though, he was tasked with the goal of physically progressing enough through another post-surgery rehabilitation, to find himself back in the announcer’s chair.
On Feb. 9, MacFarlane, who starred at (New York’s) SUNY Cortland, was a high school football and track coach and a longtime public address announcer for college, high school and community events, reached what he hopes is the first of many health-related goals.
He served as the public address announcer for the Ottawa High School at Dunlap High School sophomore and varsity basketball games, respectively.
A monumental step forward for all involved.
Reaching that goal, significant on countless fronts, was done with the help of Rock Valley Physical Therapy and a pair of dedicated and gifted therapists, (primary) Kim Schaumburg (PT, MPT) and Whitney Hanlon (PT, DPT). The dynamic duo of Schaumburg and Hanlon are part of Rock Valley’s Peoria, Illinois-based Knoxville (Ave.) clinic.
“I was nervous about announcing, but because of the confidence that Kim helped me find, I was able to do it,’’ MacFarlane said. “It was nice to get compliments from parents of players and other fans due to the job I did and what they heard. It was such fun and I got to announce exciting games.’’
It must be noted, the road to that February Thursday, was – and remains – a difficult path for MacFarlane. An outgoing sort with a 5,000 watt personality, the hulking, 6-foot-5 strongman’s physical struggles have been many.
In non-medical jargon, the husband and father of two active and athletic sons, has endured 9 major operations in the last 5 years, and approximately 10 others in the decade prior. A football-related neck injury in high school started the process that includes joint replacement of both hips – with revisions – a bevy of back surgeries including laminectomies, spinal fusion surgeries and a thoracic procedure.
After multiple surgeries and a failed rehab stint elsewhere, MacFarlane turned to Rock Valley and Schaumburg, a gifted and caring therapist with an athletic background. The two joined forces in January of 2022. It would be a long and winding road to Ottawa vs. Dunlap 13 months later.
With many miles still ahead.
“Our goal after we first met, was for Bill to be able to return to his alma mater for a special football game in New York and walk with a cane in August (2022),’’ said Schaumburg, a longtime runner, who earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Science and her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from Northern Illinois University. Schaumburg and her family moved to the Peoria area in August of 2019. “We were making tremendous gains all spring and summer. We were right on target to meet this goal.
“But in early August, Bill began to notice some new, mild neural symptoms in his left leg after we had done some walking around the clinic with the quad cane,’’ Schaumburg added. “Initially, we chalked it up to just being sore and new tightness from the effort and the new muscle recruitment required to use the cane versus the walker.’’
During that time, MacFarlane was making frequent trips to his hometown to tend to his gravely ill mother. A three-hour drive, decreased therapy work and long periods of sitting tending to his dear mother, complicated his rehabilitation. Upon her passing, lengthy periods of standing and greeting friends at her wake and funeral service, also led to continued discomfort.
Following his mother’s funeral and in distress, MacFarlane sought medical attention. He would soon need multi-level spinal fusion.
Despite mobility limitations, Schaumburg and MacFarlane – and Hanlon on days Schaumburg was not in clinic – went to work “Making Better Lives.’’
“We never made it to the football game,’’ Schaumburg said of MacFarlane returning to Cortland. “Then Bill returns (to therapy) at the end of October (2022). Struggling to get into and out of a car independently, in and out of a chair, in and out of bed, we were again reliant on a walker. We discussed what our new goal was going to be and together we devised a goal/hope/plan to announce a high school basketball game at our kids’ high school.’’
Good things, through hard work, clinic creativity with a big man and a great working relationship between therapist and patient, would lead to achieving MacFarlane’s public-address goal.
“After the thoracic surgery, I could straighten up,’’ MacFarlane said. “Though still in a walker, I was pushed hard by Kim. When she was not available I worked with Whitney. At Rock Valley, they get to know you. Kim helped me regain the confidence to try and do something out of my comfort zone. My legs, though getting stronger, still were weak from the hip surgeries and the nerves needing time to regenerate. I was working with Kim for almost a year and began doing small steps with a cane. Kim knew I did some announcing and with her son on the Dunlap varsity (basketball) team she asked about announcing.’’
Across the 2022-23 season, MacFarlane and Schaumburg have bonded over the basketball team her son plays for and chats about MacFarlane’s sons, one a talented prep swimmer at Dunlap and the other a gifted football player in the Dunlap junior football system.
Knowing of MacFarlane’s goal of returning to the microphone, Schaumburg contacted the Dunlap High School athletic director in hopes of getting his blessing for MacFarlane to take that step.
Therapy centered around many things, including what it would take for MacFarlane to carry out the plan. He would have to walk independently for 250 feet, navigate two sets of doors and reach the bleachers where the athletic director had set up a spot close to the playing floor for him to work.
Then, on a crisp winter’s night, Bill MacFarlane was back at the microphone, working four–plus hours doing what he loves, sharing his signature “trifecta’’ with all made 3-pointers. It left MacFarlane longing for another announcing shot next season and excited to progress with therapy.
Schaumburg says there is plenty left to chase for MacFarlane in the game of life.
“Bill has a great attitude for everything he has been through, it would be very easy for someone in his shoes to be depressed,’’ she said. “ I like to remind him the turtle is always the winner, not the hare. Slow and steady makes lasting gains and that is what we are working toward.’’
By: Johnny Marx, Storyteller