A coach died in a freak accident when he turned to wave at a student and crashed into a large yellow car-park barrier which pierced several inches into his stomach. Rio Linda High School’s much-loved 59-year-old football and track coach Marion Adams was so severely injured that despite all rescue attempts, he died at the hospital. On March 6, 2013, Mail Online reported that,
“Nearby students desperately tried to save him and kept him awake until emergency services arrived but he died of his injuries yesterday morning. “
After Monday’s track practice at Rio Linda, Marion Adams looked over his should to say goodbye to a student and didn’t see the partially open metal swing gate in the school parking lot. Because of the speed that he was riding his bike, Marion Adams was impaled by the gate arm causing severe internal injuries.
Marion Adams was rushed to Mercy San Juan Hospital and underwent two operations before succumbing to internal bleeding. Marion Adam’s brother said that any other man would have immediately died but Marion was a fighter and he held on to life as long as he could.
Coach Marion Adams loved kids and the kids loved him. Before becoming a coach, Marion Adams worked several years in banking management, but his heart always belonged to children. Marion Adams graduated in 1972 from Rio Linda and returned to his alma mater in 2004. For the coach, helping teens was more valuable than any kind of banker’s income.
Marion Adams brother David Adams said that "Marion loved kids, loved seeing them do well. He absolutely loved Rio Linda. He gave up a job that paid really well to teach and coach at his favorite school."
Since 2004, Marion Adams “coached youth football and Little League in Rio Linda, sometimes digging into his own pocket to help at-risk kids buy equipment, anything to keep them on a positive path.”
It is no surprise that Mercy San Juan Hospital was filled with young and old on Monday as Marion Adams underwent two surgeries to treat internal injuries. After the coach’s death early Tuesday morning, David Adams said that,
“So many people hung out for the night in the hospital. I knew what kind of man he was – he's my brother – but to see all that love and support really moved us. We're all feeling this.”
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