NEW LENOX – It was as if a Mack truck had hit Michael McGurk.

That was the surgeon’s comment, said Nancy McGurk of New Lenox, one of Michael’s sisters, when Michael’s main artery tore, the last straw in a series of injuries while playing football for Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox.

“There wasn’t the awareness of head injuries there is now,” Nancy said.

Michael spent half a year in a reduced coma, said Trisha McGurk of Joliet, another sister, and emerged as a spastic quadriplegic. He could no longer walk or talk. He could eat only pureed foods; he was oxygen dependent.

However, those details were not important to Michael, Trisha added, for her brother was a happy man, all the way up to his death from congestive heart failure April 24 at the age of 40.

What mattered to Michael was family. Trisha said when she approached him, Michael would be so happy, his chair would rock.

“For years, he did thumbs up for ‘yes’ and thumbs down for ‘no’ until we could read his lips,” Trisha said. “We knew when Michael was in pain, when he was happy and when he was mad. It wasn’t a case of suffering. That wasn’t it at all. It was just an adjustment.”

Nancy added, “After the accident, he realigned what was important to him. He never felt sorry for himself and we never did either.”

Before the accident, Michael, standing several inches over 6 feet and weighing more than 200 pounds, was known to his loved ones as a “gentle giant” and “angel baby” to his mother (also named Nancy McGurk), someone who brought home stray cats and nurtured goals of becoming a police officer or firefighter.

Michael always loved sports and played baseball and basketball, Nancy said, but their mother absolutely forbid Michael, the youngest of her nine children, to play football.

“She was afraid he’d get hurt,” Nancy said.

By high school, Michael had persuaded her otherwise.

One day, during his senior year, Michael became dizzy on the field and collapsed. He spent a year in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Insurance would not cover home health care, Nancy said, only a nursing home, which was out of the question for Michael’s mother.

So the family rolled up their sleeves and learned to care for Michael. In addition to tending to his many physical needs, they played his favorite music: Cheap Trick and Led Zeppelin. They kept the TV turned to music programs. They drove him to the movies.

In return, Michael taught and inspired them, fulfilling his dream of living a life of service to others.

“He wanted people to know that faith and hope go a long way,” Trisha said, “and that a belief system and strength and being lucky enough to have people care for you could help you do anything ... we had this encouragement from someone not able to speak. He was the best spiritual teacher we ever had. We would not be the people we are today without his influence in our lives.”

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