{"id":3686,"date":"2026-08-12T23:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686"},"modified":"2026-08-12T23:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:05:44","slug":"ex-olympian-jermaine-stafford-blind-in-one-eye-and-battling-kidney-disease-vows-to-keep-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n

Jermaine Stafford\u2019s vision has been cut in half, but his coaching eye remains strong.<\/p>\n

The Lutheran track and field boss, a former Olympic sprinter and NFL practice squad player, recently went blind in his right eye due to severe glaucoma. It\u2019s one of two significant health battles the sprinting coach and local trainer has been dealing with since May\u2019s state championship track meet, as kidney disease is also taking its toll on the 51-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell other trainers (in my work at UPSWING in Centennial) that your coach\u2019s eye is so important,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cWell, it\u2019s even more important now for me because I only have one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford underwent ankle surgery shortly after May\u2019s state meet at Jeffco Stadium to address a blood clot in his lower leg. That was the start of what\u2019s been a trying time for Stafford and his family, which includes his fianc\u00e9e, Tess Ryan, and their five children.<\/p>\n

The coach has been dealing with glaucoma and kidney disease for a couple of years now, but both conditions worsened over the summer. Stafford had two surgeries on his right eye in a failed attempt to save its vision. Currently, between his eye and his kidney issues, he\u2019s spending about $1,000 a week seeing various medical specialists. And another eye surgery, this time on his left eye, is on the horizon.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe over the summer raised about $17,000 for Stafford to help cover medical expenses, but that was only a dent in what Stafford is paying. Stafford says his family is cutting back on spending, such as eating out, and that he\u2019s been selling items in his home to make ends meet. Tess has also been pulling double shifts multiple times per week at her restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t work like I usually work, which is killing me,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cIt\u2019s not only killing me financially, but it\u2019s just killing me mentally because I\u2019m usually heavy into training (during the summer and fall), getting a lot of athletes ready for football season. But I couldn\u2019t do it because I\u2019m fatigued. I\u2019m tired. I\u2019m just exhausted. So that\u2019s been the biggest strain on the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Golden fires city manager over response to \u2018racist incident\u2019 at fire station<\/a><\/p>\n

Stafford, who previously coached at Fairview and Valor Christian before landing on Lutheran\u2019s staff 12 years ago, is adamant that he will remain the Lions\u2019 head track coach come spring. Stafford just finished his first season as the program\u2019s head coach, at which point all his medical issues escalated.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

While he remains the performance and director at UPSWING, he\u2019s also taken on an adjusted role there that involves less direct coaching but more workout planning and training of other trainers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that I will coach even if I can\u2019t see,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cI\u2019m fully throttled with coaching. I mean, I need that right now. I need the community. I need the \u2018community church of Lutheran.\u2019 I\u2019m going to do everything I can to be ready for the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

For anyone looking to assist Stafford and his family amid mounting medical bills \u2014 which could drastically increase should Stafford require dialysis, which could be a realistic possibility soon \u2014 his GoFundMe page remains open. But he also emphasizes that the spiritual and emotional support he\u2019s received in abundance means a lot as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in a situation where, financially, my family needs that sort of help,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cBut I also need support and prayer, because I\u2019m a big believer in that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Gun group sues to halt Colorado\u2019s new training requirement for certain firearms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more ICE\u2019s plan to give officers electric shock gloves draws outrage and fears of misuse<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jermaine Stafford recently went blind in his right eye due to severe glaucoma, but it won’t stop him from coaching the Lutheran track team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,56,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-preps","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jermaine Stafford recently went blind in his right eye due to severe glaucoma, but it won't stop him from coaching the Lutheran track team.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686\"},\"wordCount\":684,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Preps\",\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686\",\"name\":\"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1703},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?p=3686#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colorado Springs Moverss\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss","og_description":"Jermaine Stafford recently went blind in his right eye due to severe glaucoma, but it won't stop him from coaching the Lutheran track team.","og_url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686","og_site_name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","article_published_time":"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"headline":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching","datePublished":"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686"},"wordCount":684,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp","articleSection":["News","Preps","Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686","name":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching - Colorado Springs Moverss","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-12T23:05:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/138d99222542193c94db590cd9f6a16d-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1703},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3686#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ex-Olympian Jermaine Stafford, blind in one eye and battling kidney disease, vows to keep coaching"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/","name":"Colorado Springs Moverss","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4857af3bff7f66cee0c97667a8e70c1c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}