<!--StartFragment -->(born February 7, 1955) Height 185 cm Weight 86 kg
During his football career with the San Diego Chargers, Rolf Benirschke set 16 team records and retired as the third-most accurate placekicker in National Football League history. Rolf was a young, up-and-coming football player when he got sick. Diarrhoea and abdominal cramps were the first symptoms. Rolf says that in the throes of the illness it was difficult to run or do anything that caused his gut to get josteled. Therefore, running and any kind of bouncing was difficult. It was easier to ride a stationary bicycle than run. He could lift weights, but there was a constant stabbing in his side. He was diagnosed with IBD but played the entire season, although in the end of the season he had to check into the hospital after every game to be fed intravenously for a week, so he could play the next game as well.
Rolf started the next season successfully but the illness worsened. After collapsing on the team plane in October 1978 Rolf needed an emergency surgery that left him with an ostomy. Once Rolf was back to his weight and the surgical scar had healed after the ostomy surgery, he began a systematic workout program that began to return his weight. He started with short walks and progressed to very light weight lifting. He says he was amazed how quickly his weight began to return and he could really begin to push himself. Once six weeks had passed and he knew the scar had knitted, he began to push himself even more. Within six months he was completely healed and able to earn his spot back on the team. He returned to the team, healthier and stronger than ever, and became the first NFL player to ever play with an ostomy appliance. Two years later, in February 1983 he had a revisionary surgery that left him with a Kock pouch.
Rolf says there was certainly pressure when he played in the NFL, but research has shown that stress does not cause IBD. He does think, however, that stress can clearly make the illness worse. Rolf has had no symptoms since his surgery. He is no longer a professional athlete, but still includes exercise in his weekly routine. He shares this message with all IBD sufferers:
"Although surgery was difficult and frightening, I learned that I could do everything I had done prior to my surgery, with the footnote that perhaps I needed to do things with a little more preparation. I continue to snow ski, scuba dive, work out, play tennis and golf. In short, like so many people with ostomies, I recognize that the surgery gave me a second chance in life and I don't feel there is anything I can't do."
For more information, go to Rolf's website.
