Bout With Sepsis Nearly Kills OU Coach Greg Kampe

ROCHESTER HILLS (WWJ) - A popular local college coach is sharing his experience with the hope of helping others. Oakland University men's basketball Coach Greg Kampe spent five days in the Intensive Care Unit of Rochester Hills' Crittenton Hospital last month ... after complications from a case of kidney stones from which he nearly lost his life.

"I should have had the surgery and I didn't," says Kampe. "I put if off because July's a big recruiting month -- you're on the road the whole month. I'd had the thing in me for quite a while so I figured I'd put it off for another month and that's where I got myself in trouble."

When he checked himself into the hospital Kampe's temperature was over 106 degrees. Turns out the kidney stones led to a life threatening blood infection known as sepsis.

At one point, Kampe says, a nurse asked him if he wanted to see a clergyman.

"A lot of people have reached out to me today obviously, and one of the things I talk about is 'value every day' because you just never know," said Kampe.

"A lot of people were pushing me to say something, I really wasn't, but one of the reasons I did was because, I think men, especially male athletes - they don't listen to their body, they don't

Calling the whole ordeal an "eye-opener", Kampe says he wanted to share his story so that others may benefit ... to listen to their body and get themselves checked out by a doctor.