This article appears in the Pacific Southwest version of the November edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.
Jack McGovern will forever remember the day it snowed in San Francisco — an oddity in and of itself.
It was in February 2006, in the midst of his youth lacrosse season, when the then-10-year-old woke up with a black spot blocking the center of his vision in his left eye.
Two days later, McGovern went to an eye appointment, followed by a trip to a retina specialist the following day. He couldn’t see the big letter “E” on the eye chart.
Then the snow started to fall.
One in 200,000 people in the U.S. is affected by Coats’ disease — a very rare condition where blood vessels leak behind the retina of the eye, creating pressure and causing retinal detachment. Two-thirds of those patients are children.
That day, the day it snowed, McGovern became one of them.
“It was a weird day,” he said.
McGovern didn’t fully understand the severity of the disease. He first thought it was temporary. A few check-ups later, his doctor broke the news.
“This was something I would have to deal with for the rest of my life. That’s when it hit me,” McGovern said. “That’s when I felt scared.”
McGovern’s parents, Tina and Ed, took on the burden so Jack’s fear didn’t consume him. After her son had the first of four laser surgeries to cauterize the leaking blood vessels and stabilize his vision, Tina McGovern spent countless nights researching the disease. Because resources were limited, they established the Jack McGovern Coats’ Disease Foundation as a promise to Jack that they would never rest until there was a cure.
“We were absolutely in shock,” Tina McGovern said. “Initially, our response to this was, ‘Listen Jack. We’re going to find a cure for you. We’re going to search the world to find it. You don’t worry about it. Be a little boy and play. Let us do the heavy lifting.’”
The McGovern family flew to UCLA, then to Stanford, before discovering a doctor running a clinical trial in New York. But that doctor tipped them off that they didn’t need to fly across the country. The best retina specialist in the country for Coats’ disease was right in their backyard — Dr. Michael Jumper. In 2008, Jumper signed on as a medical advisor to the foundation.
“We were very fortunate to have been in San Francisco, because what we learned on this journey is that Coats’ disease is very rare and it mimics cancer of the eye, so some doctors take the child’s eye out because that’s what they think they should be doing,” Tina McGovern said. “Jack is doing really well right now.”
Jack McGovern’s right eye learned to compensate for his left eye’s deficiency, and today, he can’t see the black spot with both eyes open. Thanks to his family’s support and medical care, he began to believe he could persevere and use his disease as motivation to become a better athlete.
“Something in lacrosse my coaches have harped on for the entire time I’ve been playing, and always made us a successful team, is leaning on your man to your left and to your right,” said McGovern, who first picked up a lacrosse stick in fourth grade. “If I can show anything with my life, it’s that you can do whatever you want with anything.”
McGovern finished his high school career as a two-sport standout in football and lacrosse at St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.) and was recruited to play Division I lacrosse at Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. He started every game for four full seasons, graduating in 2017 and earning the team’s defensive player of the year honors his freshman and senior years while also being named to the academic honor roll.
McGovern has since spent his time being a voice for the foundation, responding to emails from frightened children who were recently diagnosed with Coats’ disease. The foundation has garnered the support of the lacrosse community, appearing in July at the Lake Tahoe Lacrosse Tournament, a popular post-collegiate event operated by the High Sierra Lacrosse Foundation.
“He really is a beacon,” Ed McGovern said. “Because of what Jack’s been able to do, especially with little kids, it really is something that gives them hope.”
Jack’s reply? It’s the same every time.
“Nothing should stop you.”
