Michiana basketball coach still in coma and recovering after crash with semi last month
SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- A beloved Michiana basketball coach is still fighting for his life more than a month after a devastating crash.
Brian Foster, Head Men's Basketball Coach at Ancilla College and an assistant at Mishawaka Marian High School, remains in a coma with a traumatic brain injury after being hit by a semi on US 30 near Plymouth last month.
Foster's wife Natasha tells ABC57 he is suffering from a brain injury called DAI but has been making small improvements over the last month, like breathing and sustaining life on his own.
"There's a lot of positives because he's still here, because I thought I lost him that night," says Natasha Foster, wife of Brian Foster. "Every day we've seen progress, but it's very little progress. With traumatic brain injuries, that's usually how it goes."
On Tuesday, Brian was transferred from Memorial Hospital in South Bend to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago where he will receive long-term acute care over the next few weeks.
"They're just going to manage some things and try to give him an opportunity to wake up some more, after that we'll see if we can get him to rehab," explains Natasha Foster. "If he can wake up, we can get him to rehab and start getting him back out there."
Foster's crash happened May 1 at the intersection of US 30 and Union Road in Marshall County.
According to crash reports from the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, there have since been three additional crashes in the same spot and a dozen more in the nearby stretch of US 30, where there is ongoing construction.
"I just really want to bring awareness to that, like I don't know what's going on at the intersection, but something needs to be done," Natasha Foster says. "I don't want any other family to get a phone call my family got and deal what we're dealing with."
Now, the Foster family is navigating through a tough time; like Brian not being able to be there for both his children's recent graduations, and Natasha having to figure out time off work to make back and forth trips to Chicago.
"It's a lot at once for me to have to figure out, and I'm used to him helping me," Natasha Foster says.
The Fosters say community support has helped them keep pushing.
Not only from their tight-knit basketball community, but even strangers like Safyre Moss, a local personal trainer who started a month-long Calisthenic Challenge to raise money for his treatment.
"In these kinds of situations, you'll see the community come together, and that's what I wanted to draw attention to," explains Safyre Moss, FitByFyre personal trainer. "It doesn't matter if you know the guy or the family at all, it's 25 dollars. If you got it to give, give it. It's as simple as that. And challenge yourself, why not?"
Moss says it's not too late to hop in on the challenge if you want to intertwine fitness goals for a good cause.
She asks that you donate to the established GoFundMe for the Foster family, and she will send you a workout plan. Fundraiser by Vaya Foster: Hope and Healing for Coach Brian Foster
You can find her Facebook and learn more about the Calisthenic Challenge here.