Jordan Gowins Gives Back to Hospital That Saved His Life

STONY BROOK, NY – Stony Brook Children’s Hospital received a special visit from Bellport's Jordan Gowins, who played football at St. Anthony's High School and Stony Brook University, and has a future in pro football.

Taking a break from coaches and scouts, Gowins spread cheer as he visited pediatric patients on Thursday.

Gowins, who established a fundraising challenge on NFL Pro Day last month, bench pressed 225 pounds for 30 reps and raised $3,000. He delivered the check to the hospital on Thursday, donated toys he purchased and spent time talking to the children. It was a chance for his warm personality, not his athletic ability, to take center stage.

When he was 10 years old, Jordan spent about a month in Stony Brook University Hospital’s ICU from a pool incident that nearly cost him his life. He banged his head, lost consciousness, and was under water for 4 and a half minutes. Given a 50-50 chance of surviving, Stony Brook doctors helped save Jordan's life. Jordan fought for his life and then fought to just to walk and talk again.

“The odds of me ever playing football again from that point on were really very slim,” Gowins, told Newsday. “My mom had talked to doctors over and over again and it just didn’t seem like it would be something that would be realistic for me. I had to learn how to walk again, learn how to write and talk again. It was like being a baby all over again.”

"Support from my loved ones and even people who I didn’t know cared at first, is what helped push me through," Gowins says. "So children, who are up against tough health circumstances and are constantly fighting on an everyday basis, are very dear to my heart."