Griffith returns to training after accident

Weeks after doctors declared him in critical condition and placed him in a medically induced coma, IU freshman wide receiver Isaac Griffith is back on campus, attending classes and beginning the early stages of his return to the football field.

“I feel great,” Griffith said Saturday as he faced the media for the first time since a swimming accident in Sarasota, Fla.

“I feel really good, actually. I’m ready to get back whenever I can.”

Griffith, along with his parents Shannon and Kim, and teammates Nick Stoner and Ty Smith, opened up about the accident that occurred during spring break.

Griffith and Stoner had traveled to visit Smith in Sarasota from Orlando, Fla.

At about 6 p.m. March 17, Griffith, Stoner, Smith and friend Mitch McCune decided to go the beach.

“Nick and Isaac came down for the day, and we were dead set on getting into the water,” Smith said. “That’s why they came. It was important for us to get into the
water.”

Smith said when they went to the beach, there were no red flags signaling visitors not to swim.

Griffith said the water was calm and they waded waist-deep into the ocean.

Shortly after the men entered the water, the waves began to grow.

“The waves started picking up and getting higher and higher,” Griffith said.
“That was when I got pushed out.”

Griffith said he started to panic when, despite his efforts to swim back to shore, he began to get swept out farther.

“I realized I was in trouble when I was being thrust out farther than I wanted to in the water,” he said.

When the waves began to pick up, Stoner and Smith both decided to head back to shore.

“Ty and I were in the water and we started to get beat up a little bit,” Stoner said.
“That’s when we decided that we needed to get out of there.”

When Stoner and Smith exited the water, the choppiness of the waves made it difficult to see Griffith and McCune.

At that point, Stoner jumped onto the lifeguard tower to locate them and make sure they weren’t in danger.

Stoner tried to signal to Smith where Griffith was in the water. Smith re-entered the water in an attempt to make sure they weren’t in immediate danger.

“My mom was a lifeguard,” Smith said. “She said you’re not supposed to send yourself into their situation. Once I figured out he was in danger, I was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to make sure that he was OK.”

Once Smith reached them, McCune was holding Griffith in water that appeared to be waist high.

“I was running to them,” Smith said. “That’s how deep the water was.”

As Smith and McCune began to perform CPR, Stoner ran back to the hotel room to call an ambulance.

Once at the hospital, Griffith was placed in a medically induced coma.

After he spent two days in a coma, the doctors woke him up.

Griffith’s parents were surprised at the short amount of time it took for Isaac to wake up.

“We were kind of, in some ways, caught off guard with how quickly they brought him out,” Shannon, his father, said.

“We were under the impression it was going to be a little bit longer. They were astonished at how good of shape Isaac was in.”

Griffith said his first memory was a man standing at his bed shaking him, telling him it was time to wake up.

“He was the one who got me out of the coma,” he said. “He was with me 24/7 when I was in my coma. I remember waking up and wondering where I was and what was
going on.”

Three weeks later, Griffith said he is anxious to get back to practicing, but it could take some time for his body to get readjusted.

He said he has been jogging about 30 minutes every day and has recently returned to the weight room.

The training staff currently has him lifting sets with higher reps and low weight to rebuild his strength.

If his rehabilitation goes well, Griffith said he hopes to be able to fully participate by the time fall camp rolls around.

“I’m ready to get back whenever I can,” he said.

“I’m letting the doctors, strength staff and coaches make that determination on when I’m ready to go full speed.

“I’ve been told that when I’m good enough over the summer, they are going to monitor me and make sure I’m back at full health by fall camp.”

Kim, Isaac’s mother, said she is anxious to see her son back on a football field.
 
“I’m so anxious to see him play,” she said. “I’m going to be there waiting for him to walk onto that field.”