Charlotte coach Tomekia Reed on health scare: ‘Don’t let me die’ 

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte women's basketball coach spent nearly two months in intensive care and three months on medical leave after a digestive issue led to complications that included kidney failure and collapsed lungs.

Tomekia Reed is a walking miracle.

In April, Charlotte athletics announced Reed — the 49ers women’s basketball coach — was going on an undisclosed medical leave of absence. There was no timetable given for her return. 
Reed returned to work on July 14 and posted a video in early August describing a part of her health journey on her social media. 

“It all just came out of nowhere,” Reed said. “I had been having stomach issues since 2016. When I got to Charlotte it became a lot worse, but I just thought it was stress. I thought it was due to me just wanting to be so successful here at a new level. I thought, ‘Oh it will go away.’ I just kept saying that. Then one night not too long after the first round of the conference tournament, I ate a piece of brisket, and it wouldn’t move. It just got stuck.”

The meal was at 11:30 p.m. but Reed felt she needed to go to the hospital.

“I told my son and we rushed to the emergency room,” she said. “When we got there, my stomach just started swelling and swelling. I remember in the emergency room, I was on the floor in the fetal position and telling and screaming at the nurses just, ‘Please don’t let me die, don’t let me die.’ I never knew how afraid I was of dying ‘til I was in that moment. It just escalated so fast.” 

Reed’s digestive system shut down, which led to further complications, including kidney failure and both lungs collapsing. 

“I called my coaches because I don’t have family here in Charlotte,” she said. “Just my cousin who lives with me. She was asleep at the time. I called all my coaches on my staff and they were asleep. They were away because it was after the tournament. So, for almost a day nobody knew where I was. I was already medically induced in a coma.”

When Reed’s cousin awoke, she checked on her whereabouts and started calling around to several hospitals until locating her.

“They told her, ‘You need to get up here now,’” Reed said. “Our doctors here at Charlotte helped Reagan [Hill] and my cousin figure out where I was. That was the only information they were able to share, like this is the hospital she is in, and this is the room number. Then after that information was out Chancellor [Sharon] Gaber made a call to the highest administration at the hospital just to make sure things remained private and that I was taken good care of and to make sure the family was comfortable.” 

Reed went through four surgeries and for a time her condition was unstable. 

“On my third surgery my heart was all out of whack, and they thought they were going to lose me,” she said. “Then I had my fourth surgery on the fifth day I was there and they cut me wide open from the middle of my body and just watched my organs just to see how things would turn.”

Reed said she is thankful for the team of nurses and doctors who saved her life.

“When I was admitted into the hospital, I had a nurse named Tim – he was my ICU nurse. I was told that Tim had so much attention to the small details. He was just so locked in because there was a lot that needed to be done with very quick decisions. I met the doctor who did my incision. I met the doctor who did the first surgery. She actually did another procedure for me after I got out of the hospital.

“She leaned over my shoulder and said, ‘Tomekia, I don’t mean to sound rude or disrespectful, but we did not think you were going to make it. She wasn’t the only doctor who had told me that. … But I just really thought that I was in really good hands because as soon as I got to that hospital they went straight to work and didn’t let a second go by.” 

Reed spent nearly two months in intensive care, including times where she was intubated and placed on a ventilator. In her lowest moments she leaned on her faith.

“There was a moment where I was ready to give up,” Reed recalled. “It had gotten so rough where I can remember saying, ‘Lord, if you’re ready, I am ready.’ I really just couldn’t focus on anything but me at the time.

“They had me on medication, but they would bring me off of it sometimes to see how my body was responding. When they would do that, when I would close my eyes, I would see a white light over to the left. I was thinking, ‘OK, am I going this way?’ I would see black figures walk past me and look down at me. I would open my eyes to see if there was a light over there and there was nothing there. That is where my faith kicked in.”

Reed recalled praying that she wasn’t ready yet and God revealing to her these figures were watching over and protecting her. 

While Reed was on leave, associated head coach LaShonda Cousin was named interim head coach so the program could continue to recruit and lead summer workouts. 

“Coach Cousin did a great job,” Reed said. “She has been with me now for nine years. It feels good as a coach to see what she is picking up and what she is able to do. She ran this program; she delegated to the coaches. They all ran this program at a very elite pace. … They did a good job in recruiting by selling me as a head coach even when I wasn’t there. They sold the vision of the program. Coach Cousin is also the recruiting coordinator, so she was putting together recruiting plans. It was just nonstop, so I am extremely proud of her because she didn’t seem fearful or afraid. She just jumped right in and got it done.” 

When Reed got to a point where she was ready to rejoin the team, she called every player after and announced the season’s slogan: “It’s personal.”

“[They] were so excited,” she said. “All they could talk about was the coaches, what they have done and what they sold. All of the new players talked about how they were ready to come in and contribute to this program and how they could contribute to us being successful. They understand the battle that I went through and I don’t necessarily lead with that, but sometimes during the summer I would talk about it, and the players were very receptive. … There was just a lot of joy.” 

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