Temperature 106: Oakland Basketball Coach Almost Died From Sepsis

ROCHESTER, MI — Oakland basketball coach Greg Kampe was nearly killed in July from septic shock, which is a severe medical emergency. An infected kidney stone was the culprit, sending his body temperature over 106 degrees.

The Detroit Free Press reported that hospital staff asked him if he wanted a member of the clergy by his bedside, a sign that things were not looking good for him. His blood was poisoned.

“A lot of things go through your mind, some of which I don’t want to talk about,’’ Kampe said in his office, according to the Free Press. “They were yelling rapid response and I knew it was for the room I was in.’’

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences says that sepsis strikes often; more than a million Americans get sepsis annually and it is estimated that 28 to 50 percent of these cases end fatally. That means more Americans are killed annually by sepsis that breast cancer, prostate cancer and AIDS combined, according to the NIGMS website.

Kampe's doctors told him that 80 percent of people in his age group diagnosed with sepsis are killed from it, adding that hospital staff had to cover him with ice to cool his body temperature.

"Sepsis is a bad deal," Kampe said.

Doctors made the decision to operate on Kampe in June, but he made the decision to wait. “My mistake was the July recruiting was starting,’’ said Kampe, according to the Free Press. He attended several events instead of getting surgery, and he paid for it.

Besides waiting, Kampe said his diet was an issue. He swore off food from the local 7-Eleven and has dropped 25 pounds since the situation.

Regardless of his life-threatening episode, Kampe plans to push on. “I’ll still be the same on the sideline,’’ he said.

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