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Posted on Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 10:28 a.m.

Brady Hoke writes to Notre Dame fan who suffered heart attack at Michigan Stadium

By AnnArbor.com Staff

Leo Staudacher, the Bay City man who suffered a heart attack while in the stands at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 10 for the Notre Dame-Michigan football game, is doing well.

And among the many cards he's received in recent weeks is one from Michigan football coach Brady Hoke, the Bay City Times reported.

“This isn’t something that was set up by their (public relations) staff,” said Staudacher, the 69-year-old Bay City retiree. “This is from a guy who cares enough about a human being to sit down with a felt pen and write a note. It’s someone he doesn’t know, has never met and is a Notre Dame fan, but he took the time to do it. “If that isn’t class, I don’t know what is.”

Staudacher required CPR in the stands and ended up watching the end of the game from the intensive care unit at the University of Michigan Hospital.

Staudacher said he has been invited to attend the American Heart Association’s gala in Ann Arbor on Oct. 22, where he will present Marvin Sonne, the dentist who performed CPR on him, with the Lifesaver of the Year award.

Comments

Edward R Murrow's Ghost

Sat, Oct 8, 2011 : 3:22 a.m.

Hey George Orwell, Your paranoia is showing. I don't see the WCiMFH mentioned anywhere in the article. Good Night and Good Luck

GoBlue1984

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 4:30 p.m.

Hmm... An equation: Writing a letter to a guy who came to the game > teaching a kid who had become paralyzed to walk again. Which works out to: Brady Hoke > Rich Rodriguez Ah, it makes sense now. In the eyes of the BaHAAGG (Bo and His Assistants Are God Groupies), Brady Hoke is everything Michigan should be and Rich Rodriguez is everything it shouldn't be. NEWSFLASH: Rich Rodriguez built the program that is undefeated right now. Rich Rodriguez stocked the roster with amazing kids so that for years to come Michigan will be great. Rich Rodriguez regularly volunteered at the UM Hospital, raised money for nonprofit organizations and even when he was kicked to the curb he donated all of his UM attire to charity. You want to belittle his record on the field, be my guest (it's a different kind of debate - and one that we've had for quite some time now), but to elevate Brady Hoke over Rich Rodriguez because Brady wrote a guy who came to the game a letter... sorry folks, but when Michigan opened the renovated Big House a guy named Brock Mealer WALKED onto the field. These are things you don't just forget because you hate the coach. Rich Rodriguez did a lot of things wrong at Michigan, but that certainly doesn't give you the right to forget about all of the good things he did too.

a2roots

Thu, Oct 6, 2011 : 1:31 p.m.

I do agree with you. As you can see the haters will always be there. RR did make mistakes but his many good deeds surely did not seem to be recognized. Far to much happened behind his back by so called supporters. He was pretty doomed from the start. Blame that on Bill Martin and Lloyd Carr.

1st Down

Thu, Oct 6, 2011 : 4:45 a.m.

Perhaps your boy Rich Rod should permanently retire from coaching, since he is more effective as a physical therapist. doh...check that...a career in physical therapy wont pay off those million dollar loans that were defaulted on, or the million dollar house... so it will be: stick to coaching for the "genius"... if someone hires him.

1st Down

Thu, Oct 6, 2011 : 12:44 a.m.

bitter much?

Long Time No See

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 7:35 p.m.

Offensive? Yep. Genius? Not as sure about that. btw - I was at the UConn game when Brock Maeler did his walk out onto the field. It was a great moment. You know what another great moment was? I'll give you a hint, it happened on January 5th 2010.

Mike

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 6:31 p.m.

What coach Barwis did for Brock Maeler was and will always be inspiring. That is completely irrelevant to the story above. I was sorry to learn that Coach Barwis wouldn't be retained, but this is commonplace with the hiring (and firing) of a head coach. The assistants go too. Rich Rod was an offensive genius, defense not so much (in the Big Ten) and I thought a likable enough coach. Kinda like the MSU game a couple of years ago, time just simply ran out.

Larry

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 5:38 p.m.

I don't believe anybody was dissing RichRod. They are commenting on the thoughtfulness of Brady Hoke, not diminishing what RichRod did while head coach at Michigan. I'm not sure I agree with the fact that RichRod built the program that is undefeated. He recruited the kids that are here, but lacked a solid defensive coordinator and did not teach fundamental football. I think Brady Hoke and staff would have made a club team competitive with their ability to coach the kids up. There are definitely some athletes on the team that RichRod recruited, but what we are seeing is a coaching staff that understands the strengths of their kids and has the flexibility to maximize their talents.

Charlie Brown's Ghost

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 3:46 p.m.

It's nice to have a class act in charge once again.

Edward R Murrow's Ghost

Sat, Oct 8, 2011 : 3:37 a.m.

Indeed. GN&GL

Kai Petainen

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 3:42 p.m.

that's incredibly nice. awesome stuff. best wishes to Leo's recovery.

Nathan Steffes

Wed, Oct 5, 2011 : 3:25 p.m.

People always wonder what Michigan fans mean when they say, "He is a Michigan Man." Well, ladies and gentlemen, our coach has just perfectly described it with actions. It's great to see that our Coach demonstrates such class and character.