I was sitting on the DadLabs set waiting for the call from the PR person, who would then inevitably put me on hold forever. I had carved out a half hour of stand-by time because these “blog tour” interviews never run on time. The phone rang at the appointed hour, an encouraging sign. A voice on the other end said, “This is Grant Hill.” Which explains why I’m holding the phone for the whole interview. Flustered, I didn’t have the guts to risk hanging up on him to put him on speaker.
I enjoyed my brief interview with Grant Hill (an NBA star for the non-sports people), for a couple of reasons. Call me naive in this post-Tiger world of sports figure cynicism, but the man struck me as a genuinely good guy. I was impressed that he was working with Stop MRSA Now. And, despite the fact that many of my good friends were admitted there, I was impressed by his career at Duke. His demeanor on the phone was polished but genuine. He hit all his talking points and responded thoughtfully when I went a bit off topic. I have no reason to believe that Grant Hill is anything other than what he appears to be: a challenge to the current stereotype of pro athletes — a good dad.
I appreciated the work he is doing with Clorox and Stop MRSA Now (I have no idea if this is a paid endorsement or charity work, btw) because we had a MRSA scare in out family just recently. One of my kids had an outbreak of poison ivy on the face which then took a troubling turn. Tons of ugly swelling and discharge sent us scrambling to the pediatrician, who reassured us with an “oh, dear” and forwarded us, now in full panic, to the dermatologist.
I was as scared as I have been in recent memory. Horror stories of flesh eating bacteria, antibiotic resistant staph (that’s what MRSA is) flickered through my subconscious, when I wheeled into the skin doc’s parking lot. She reassured me with some of the same info that Hill lays out in our interview — MRSA has become very common and it is treatable with specialized antibiotics.
Which is why this campaign is important. Though it is treatable, MRSA is dangerous, potentially deadly, and preventable. But lots of misinformation is out there. Despite the skin culture coming back inconclusive, there was a minor panic at my kids school when the specter of MRSA was raised. So check out the website, and get informed.
And Go Suns!
As someone who’s son had MRSA and has had it twice himself, I’ve done a fair bit of research. I think I know what you’re getting at, but I’d dispute the accuracy of saying “it’s preventable”. It’s highly contagious and tough to kill. Short of bleaching everything in sight, it’s not likely to be eliminated any time soon.
Other than that, kudos for bringing more attention to this important issue.
MRSA is potentially very dangerous infection with ability to adapt on antibiotics. Treatment is complicated and sometimes even doctors and modern medicine are powerless to treat this disease. To find more about MRSA visit mrsa superbug infection website. Very serious and dangerous infection.
My niece had MRSA and it was pretty bad for a while. It’s a really complicated situation with how it can adapt to antibiotics. I hope people really pay attention to the message being sent by Grant Hill. He’s a really good guy who has shown class his entire career. Of course as a huge Duke fan, I think he’s a heck of a guy. Who can forget that he’s the one who threw the pass to Laettner in that great win over Kentucky in 1992. Go Duke.