Oregon’s athletes don’t complain about injuries or rehab.
It’s hard to when the man tending their wounds is one who has battled with so much himself.
John Cain, Oregon’s athletic trainer for 19 years, is nothing short of an inspiration for the Hawks. After receiving a kidney and a pancreatic transplant three years ago, Cain has recovered and competed in the U.S. Transplant Games twice.
“He is an inspiration,” Oregon football coach John Bothe said. “He’s been here longer than I have, and he’s always been a tremendous trainer. But what he’s been through with the transplant is just incredible.”
Cain, 44, grew up in Byron and competed in football, basketball and baseball for the Tigers. A lifelong athlete, his love of sports motivated him to earn an athletic training degree from Northern Illinois University. In 1989, Cain joined the Oregon athletic program as an employee with Ogle County Physical Therapy.
“He’s the best trainer in the area,” Oregon assistant football coach and former athlete Shane Mammen said. “You can see he just cares so much about the kids. He does everything he can to make sure the kids here are healthy.”
Cain was diagnosed as a Type I diabetic at age 4, so he battled with blood sugar readings and insulin shots his entire life. It took its toll in fall 2004 when he noticed some swelling and extreme fatigue.
JOHN F. ELBERS II | RRSTAR.COM
Oregon trainer John Cain treats the
injured finger of Oregon player Devan
Todd at an Aug. 27 practice.
“I’d be on the sidelines on Friday nights and didn’t think I’d make it to the end of the night, I was so exhausted,” Cain said.
Doctors told Cain in November he would need a transplant, and he started peritoneal dialysis within the month. The dialysis consisted of Cain draining a mixture of sugar and minerals into his abdomen, and then removing it with the waste and extra fluid caused by his failing kidneys.
He did it four times a day for six months.
“It sounds bad, but compared to sitting and not being able to work or do anything, it was the better option for me,” Cain said.
“I wanted to keep working because it kept my mind off things. I wanted to be doing something. And everyone here was fantastic. They told me not to push it, and if I had to leave for a half an hour to do the dialysis, everyone understood.”
Cain was officially put on a list for the kidney and pancreas transplants on June 1, 2005. He found a match on June 14 and had the surgery that same day.
“That’s what blows the doctors minds is how fast it all was,” Cain said.
“Everything was happening so fast, I didn’t have time to feel scared, but I know my wife (Melanie) was.”
He recovered wonderfully, and the transplant cured his diabetes. In a matter of weeks, Cain asked his doctor how soon he could return to work.
“He told me a few more months, but I said I had to be back by Aug. 10,” Cain said. “I had to be back for the first day of two-a-days.”
Cain was on the sidelines with the football team on opening night in 2005. By then he had also returned to biking.
“It just seemed like a seamless transition for him,” Bothe said. “He was back up-and-going right away.
“I like to think the kids have tremendous respect for what he’s done. Seeing how he was before the transplant, then seeing things start to struggle a little bit, and then seeing him bound back to the condition he’s in now, it’s been great to watch. He’s in unbelievable condition.”
In 2006, one year after his surgery, Cain competed in his first U.S. Transplant Games — a four-day athletic competition every other year for recipients of organ transplants. Cain went to Louisville, Ky., and finished eighth in the 40-49 age group in the 20K bicycle road race. This past July, Cain competed in the same event in Pittsburgh and finished 10th.
“It’s nice that he can do all that stuff now, because he hadn’t done it for a long time when he was so sick,” said Melanie, his wife of seven years.
“He’s extremely committed to his job, and he always has been. Even when he was doing his dialysis. That’s why he chose it, so that he could still go to work every day and not miss the events. He was just so motivated to get better quickly.”
In addition to biking and his job at Oregon, Cain also routinely visits driver’s education classes to talk to kids about becoming organ donors. The experience obviously changed Cain’s life, and it’s still motivating others.
“I spent some time with him when I injured my back, and he was definitely inspiring,” said Mammen, a 2006 graduate. “If he can come back from what he went through, then I know I can.”
Staff reporter Emily Tropp can be reached at 815-987-1385 or etropp@rrstar.com.
