STILLMAN VALLEY — Mike Lalor has coached dozens of outstanding athletes in his 10 years at Stillman Valley.

He’s pushed them in the weight room, demanded perfection on the football field, and led them to state titles.

But Lalor’s most important athlete came into his life just before his eighth year of coaching.

His son, Logan, was born June 8, 2006.

There were physical complications from the start. Lalor’s years of pushing athletes to their highest potential took on a different meaning. He now had to use that same drive to help his own son.

“There’s such an irony to it,” Lalor said. “I spent all this time teaching kids to be bigger, faster, stronger, and now our own son might not be able to do it.”

Logan is now a bright, 2-year-old with curly, blond hair. He’s well-versed in sign language for a toddler — his first being the sign for a touchdown, naturally. Logan’s not yet walking, but he’s big for his age, which is a relief for his parents after all that he’s gone through.

Complications
“This whole thing started literally at birth,” Lalor said. “When Logan was born, he was not breathing. We are sitting there one second hearing, ‘it’s a boy,’ and the next second hearing, ‘he isn’t breathing.’ ”

Doctors and nurses helped him to breathe, but he still didn’t cry. He didn’t make much noise or movement at all. Doctors took CT scans and brain scans. Nothing showed up.

Logan had 20 doctor visits in his first 30 days of life, but none found a name or a reason for his condition. Logan was put under the category of Congenital Fiber Type Dysplasia, which means his muscle cells are smaller than a typical person. The result was extreme muscle weakness, which made everything from eating to breathing a struggle.

Mike and Heather Lalor said those first few months were a blur. His weak muscles delayed his development so much that by four months he still wasn’t lifting his head.

“I think what saddened us the most is that for a long time he didn’t smile,” Heather said. “He couldn’t use those muscles.”

When Logan was about 4 months old, doctors introduced the Lalors to the Illinois Early Intervention System, which they describe as a God-send. Specialists went to the Lalors’ home regularly to work with Logan’s muscle development.

Every night became a training session with Logan. Lalor would leave football practice and go home to work with Heather, the therapists and his son.

Slowly, Logan began to show progress. He still was delayed, but he learned to crawl and he learned sign language to communicate.

Then shortly after Logan’s first birthday, the family suffered another blow when Mike lost his mother to cancer. They got through the summer only to face what became the hardest day of Mike and Heather’s life.

Football comes second
In Week 5 of the 2007 season, Lalor’s biggest concern would normally have been Byron. The Cardinals were scheduled to play their rivals that Friday. But instead, the Lalors spent the day at a hospital in Madison, Wis.

Logan required a surgery to descend his testicles. Without it, cancer would develop within a year. But with the surgery came the fear that Logan wouldn’t be strong enough to wake from the anesthetic.

“Heather and I sat out in the waiting room and cried, wondering if, by our choice, we might be ending his life,” Mike said.

Logan pulled through the surgery, and Mike hopped in the car and met his team on the football field minutes before the game.

“We lost the game that night, but the whole day did put life in perspective about how fragile it is,” Mike said.

Since the surgery, Logan has continued to train his muscles and get stronger. Mentally, he’s the same as any 2-year-old, though speech will be delayed because of the lack of muscle strength.

Doctors still don’t have a reason for why Logan was born with complications.

“It’s still an unknown factor for us,” Lalor said. “There’s not a label on it yet. We think everything is going to be OK, but you just never really know, and that’s an awful feeling.”

Stillman Valley gives back
Until now, the Lalors kept Logan’s condition mostly a private, family affair. And the community respected their privacy.

“I never wanted people to look at Logan as ‘special needs,’ ” Heather said. “I don’t want people to look at him like he’s different. I want them to embrace him for who he is.”

What prompted them to speak publicly were other children like Logan. During Logan’s therapy and testing, the Lalors met other families with children with developmental delays. Many of them can’t afford or don’t have access to the same Early Intervention tools and therapy that Logan does.

So this past summer, Mike and Heather started Stillman Valley and Friends Give Back. The fundraiser will create a lending library as a home for developmental tools for children with delays. These tools are usually only needed for a short time, so they will be reused by many different families throughout the area.

Early Intervention therapists will have access to the tools, and will help families use them when they’re needed.

The Lalors opened a Web site, stillmanvalleygivesback.com, to raise funds, and they’ll have a silent auction Friday during the Cardinals’ homecoming game against Lutheran.

The initial goal was $10,000. They’ve raised $23,000. And the auction has yet to take place.

Community support
The community support literally overwhelmed the Lalors.

“I am just so touched by all the people who have given,” Heather said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Byron Bank and Ray McCracken were the first to donate a large sum, and once the word got out that Lalor needed help, the community responded en masse.

“Here is a guy who has affected so many young athletes in so many ways,” said Patrick “Bucky” Babcock, a former all-stater who was on Lalor’s first state championship team in 1999. “It’s time to do our part and help him out.

“I know he’s gone through a tough time, but he’s never been a guy to complain about it or ask anyone to feel sorry for him. He won’t ever say ‘Whoa is me.’ He just puts his nose to the grindstone and pushes through it.”

Local businesses, former and current players, and parents donated money and offered items for the silent auction. Most of them are just realizing what their football coach has been through the past two years.

“I think the community knew to an extent that there was an issue, but this has definitely brought more light to it,” said J.D. Miller, director of marketing at Stillman Bank, which also contributed.

“Coach Lalor is definitely a prized asset, he and his family, to our community. So it makes it easier for people to rally behind and support him.”

A different coach
Lalor’s 2008 players have all but adopted Logan as a younger brother, and he idolizes all of them.

“We just love it when (Lalor) hands him over to us and we get to play with him,” said Stillman Valley senior Keegan Myrvold, who donated his Mike Singletary autographed card to Friday’s silent auction.

“(Lalor) has just given so much to us and the community, and it feels really good to give something back to him.”

Lalor said he is a different coach to today’s players than he was to his former teams.

“They probably view me much more of a person than some of my old teams would,” said Lalor, who had always been an intimidating, larger-than-life coach to his players.

“Football, I think in a way, gave me an outlet to work on something. And it helps you realize what real problems are. Coaching should be a good thing, and it’s a real positive in my life.”

Lalor continues to support and encourage Logan physically in training sessions, just as he does with all his athletes.

“Maybe it’s meant to be, because the training and muscle development has always made a lot of sense to me,” Lalor said.

He’s taught Logan to love football. In turn, Logan has taught his father a lesson within it.

“He’s made me a much better coach,” Lalor said. “He makes me understand about the kid who tries the hardest, but no matter how hard he works, he just can’t do it.

“I really didn’t get that until now.”

Staff reporter Emily Tropp can be reached at 815-987-1385 or etropp@rrstar.com.

How to help
Stillman Valley will have a silent auction fundraiser this Friday in conjunction with the Cardinals’ homecoming game against Lutheran.

Game time is 7 p.m.

The benefit will raise money to help families with developmentally delayed children. Logan Lalor, the son of Stillman Valley football coach Mike Lalor, served as an inspiration for the event.

To donate online, or for more information on the event and the silent auction items, visit stillmanvalleygivesback.com. The Web site also features a video of Coach Lalor with his son.

Families interested in the Illinois Early Intervention System for children age birth to 3 years can contact Faith Miller at 815-654-6170. Miller is a service coordinator with Child and Family Connections, a program of Access Services of Northern Illinois.