PRAY4J
Coach Mike Krzyzewski
When Jackson was in Cincinnati Children's Hospital for the 26 months, Coach K at the time was the head mens basketball coach at the Duke University. He sent Jackson this signed picture.
Then one day, Coach K called Jackson.
Coach K explained to Jackson that he was in Florida at a speaking engagement. In the meet and greet line, someone was telling him about Jackson and what he was going through.
Coach K asked how Jackson is doing. They spoke about NBA and how the Atlanta Hawks is Jackson's favorite NBA team. Coach K complimented Coach McMillan, who was the Atlanta Hawks coach at the time and how Coach McMillan was an assistant coach for Coach K with the USA Olympic Team. He also spoke highly of Grant Hill, one of the owners of the Atlanta Hawks and how he was a former player of Coach K at Duke of course.
They spoke about Jackson's prognosis and plan to get out of the hospital. Jackson explained he has two more big surgeries to get out of the hospital. Coach K asked about how this is affecting his school. Coach K commented how strong Jackson sounds.
Coach K said to Jackson, "The thing is, the body will respond to the mind and the heart and your attitude and the fact that you have goals, you're gonna be good. The road to recovery will be a tough one, but it will be an exciting one because you will see progress."
Coach K said he wanted to call and wish Jackson the very best. Jackson responded, "Thank you so much. This call made my entire life. I never would have thought I would be talking to Coach K." Coach K responded with "I never thought I would be talking to Jackson Igou either. It makes me feel good talking to you."
Coach K said "Having a great attitude is one thing, but having it when you are dealing with adversity at a really high level makes you special, and so, you going through this and then coming out, you're gonna be good. Having gone through it, you will be so ahead of people and I encourage you to continue to stay positive and strong and I know good things are going to work out for you."
Coach K told Jackson that he knows his mom Elisabeth lives with him in the hospital and to give her a hug from him. Having a mom there is special and she believes in you.
