Ditka Is in ‘Good Spirits’ After Mild Heart Attack
Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka suffered a mild heart attack Wednesday after his daily workout at the team’s training camp here and was hospitalized in serious condition.
Ditka, 49, was given medication for a blocked artery in the intensive care unit of Lake Forest Hospital, where he was alert and being treated by Dr. Jay Alexander, a staff cardiologist.
Alexander said he expects that Ditka will recover completely, “barring anything unforeseen.”
Team President Mike McCaskey said he will name an assistant coach later this week to coach the Bears in Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.
Alexander said Ditka will require hospitalization for at least a week while doctors determine the extent of the blockage.
“It’s too soon to say when he will be back and resuming his duties,” Alexander said.
McCaskey, who visited Ditka in the hospital, said the coach was in good spirits and even joked that he had planned to visit a friend Wednesday at the same hospital anyway.
Both the players and McCaskey said the disruption to the team will be minimal because a game plan was nearly completed, and Ditka increasingly has turned over play-calling to offensive coordinator Ed Hughes and his defensive counterpart, Vince Tobin.
“We’re left in very capable hands,” safety Dave Duerson said. “Certainly, though, Mike is going to be in the back of our minds, and Sunday will be for him.”
Club spokesman Bryan Harlan said Ditka was getting dressed to make an appearance Wednesday at a rally for George Bush at Stevenson High School in nearby Prairie View when he felt chest pains.
Assistant coach Johnny Roland said Ditka suffered similar pains Monday but apparently did nothing about them. And he at first resisted efforts to take him to the hospital.
“He was fighting us, not necessarily fighting us, but discouraging us from going to get help,” Roland said. “But you could tell he was obviously in dire need of help.”
The coaches finally persuaded Ditka to seek help, then drove him to the hospital.