By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Scott Young pulled up in front of Rowan Regional Medical Center at 12:02 a.m. on Tuesday morning and asked a security guard if he’d park his truck.
“What’s the matter, sir,” he asked Young.
“I think I’m having a heart attack,” was Young’s response.
A few minutes later, the 40-year-old coach of the three-time defending state 3A champion West Rowan Falcons was told the news. It was indeed a heart attack.
There was 100 percent blockage in one of the heart’s main arteries (“the widow maker,” Young said) and blockage in another. Doctors performed surgery, placing two stents in his chest. By the afternoon, Young was resting comfortably and was eating. He was also in a cheerful mood after meeting with Dr. Telly Meadows around 7 p.m.
“It’s some pretty good news,” Young reported.
Young will leave the hospital on Thursday. Doctors told him there was damage to the heart but he should recover.
“I feel lucky,” Young said. “Thank God I woke up.”
Young remembers the clock reading 11:48 p.m. on Monday when he felt pain in his chest and he couldn’t stop fidgeting. He took two aspirin and tried to go back to sleep.
“I didn’t know if it was indigestion or what,” Young said. “It started hurting worse so I went to the hospital.”
But he had a feeling of what was happening.
“Last Thursday was the first time I felt it while I was lining off the field,” he said. “There was no pain down my left arm. No sweating. Just pressure. That’s the best way to describe it.”
He left a note for wife Diane when he left for the hospital. She joined him about 30 minutes later.
His Falcon team was informed Tuesday morning.
“It was bad news,” said star defensive lineman Greg Dixon. “Coach means a lot to us. He’s family. He’s a dad to us. It’s not the same when he’s not out there.”
Since taking over as head coach at West in 1998, he is 143-39, including this year’s 8-2 mark. A win over West Iredell will give his program its eighth straight North Piedmont Conference championship.
Young didn’t know if he’d be at Friday’s game, although he said he is planning on it. He won’t be on the field, but rather, in the pressbox. He’ll turn the offensive duties over to Joe Nixon and the defense over to David Hunt.
“Those men are good at what they do and they’ll be fine,” Young said.
Young was upbeat, assuring all of his visitors he’ll be fine. When Diane informed him of a text, he responded with, “Is it about the heart attack or Tampa Bay Buccaneer tickets?”
“Both,” she said.
He wanted to know who was going to take his daughter to her softball game. He wanted to know how football practice went. He already seemed back to his old self.
But Young also knows the seriousness.
“I just need to do a better job of taking care of myself and watching for that stuff,” he said. “I’ve been trying to live healthier. That plan didn’t work too well.”
Young’s heart attack has made the Falcons more focused for Friday and West Iredell, according to Dixon. West Rowan is 5-0 in the conference while West Iredell is 4-1.
“It’s big because it’s for the conference championship and we don’t want to share,” Dixon said. “We’re going to use it as motivation and bring back a big win for Coach Young.”