Torres’ coach diagnosed with rare blood disorder
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Updated: 4:55 p.m.
Six-time Olympic coach Michael Lohberg of the Coral Springs Swim Club has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease. Lohberg was supposed to be on his way to Singapore to help swimmers -- including 41-year-old Dara Torres -- prepare for the Beijing Games.
Instead, he is fighting for his life.
Lohberg, 58, is seeking care at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., with doctors who specialize in the disorder. Sun-Sentinel.com quoted Lohberg as saying: ‘The NIH is specialized in the disease and treatment. I don’t think I can say what the prognosis is until they do the tests. The prognosis of these doctors [in Florida] is very bleak. There isn’t much to say until I see these specialists.’
Lohberg’s comments as reported on MiamiHerald.com on Thursday night were equally bleak: ‘It’s really, really bad. They told me I might last only weeks, or maybe even days. It’s bad. I knew something was wrong because I was very tired and out of breath, but I thought it was from my herniated disk and all the stress. Turns out it’s a disaster.’
Torres, who says she has been emotionally drained by the experience, first noticed something was wrong with her coach and said he had a bad back before they left for the Olympic trials, and that he was becoming more and more tired in Omaha, saying, ‘He barely could walk 10 meters without having to sit down.’
Lohberg learned of the rare blood disorder while preparing for a relatively common back procedure last weekend. Doctors performed routine blood tests that uncovered aplastic anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow stops producing new blood cells.
Torres, a five-time Olympian who has trained with Lohberg for two years, told McClatchy Newspapers that she is devastated: ‘It’s so awful, really, really terrible. I can’t even talk about it right now. I haven’t stopped crying.’
Lohberg has been coaching Torres and six other Beijing-bound swimmers.
-- Greg Johnson