Hugh Freeze continues to recover from a serious staph infection in his back that forced him to miss over two weeks of practice during August training camp. During Liberty’s bye week, he was able to rest much more than a typical in-season game week which has allowed his back to continue to heal.
“Every day is a little different,” Freeze said Monday afternoon. “I feel great today. I walked a lot. I went out with some of my buddies who were playing golf in a tournament this weekend. I can’t play, but I went out and I walked six holes just watching them. That was good exercise. I walked a lot (Sunday). I find that walking is helping me, I like that better than some of the rehab.”
As has been reported previously, Freeze coached from the press box during Liberty’s first two games of the season. First, from a hospital bed against Syracuse and then in a medical chair in the Flames’ first road game of the season at Louisiana. During the past four games, Freeze has coached from the sidelines in an elevated platform that he has nicknamed his own personal NASCAR pit box.
“They took the PICC line out,” said Freeze. “The infection is definitely out of the bloodstream. They’re careful to say, ‘We can’t ever tell you it’s 100% out of the bone, but you have no signs of it being around. You feel good and you will know if it comes back.’ I think everything is gone, but they definitely know it’s out of the bloodstream.”
While he’s not back to 100% and able to play golf, Freeze is hopeful he will be able to regularly coach a game from the sidelines in the very near future.
“I’m not all the way there, but I’m so much better and I’m thankful to feel the way I do today.”
