Summit coach’s child arrives early; so does support
Summit boys tennis coach Josh Cordell and his wife Emily have had an extremely stressful week.
Their daughter was born 15 weeks prematurely on Monday.
Cordell’s daughter was supposed to be born in November.
Instead, Emily gave birth just 25 weeks into her pregnancy this past Monday.
Brynlee Cordell weighed in at just 1 pound, 10 ounces.
“It was extremely overwhelming at first,” Cordell said Friday. “I’ve got a real peace about it now. We’ve had incredible support. It’s unreal how many people are praying for her and sending her love.”
Much of that love and support has come from Josh’s tennis team at Summit, despite many of them being out of town for summer tennis.
“To have teenage boys who just send you a text that says ‘What do you need? I can do anything for you.'” Cordell said. “And not just the thoughtfulness of that, but also 16-, 17-year-old boys who are actually capable of coming through for you.”
Josh said one of his tennis kids was walking his dog on Friday.
And it’s not just his Summit kids.
Josh also coaches tennis for Bend Park and Rec, and their support has meant the world to him and his family.
“I feel like I have hundreds of kids here in this town, and it makes it real special. They really care, and so many of them are asking about Brynlee and how she’s doing,” Cordell said.
Josh went back to teach lessons on Thursday for the first time since Brynlee was born, which turned out to be a welcome distraction.
“It was just a total escape,” Cordell said. “It’s was really nice to be around a lot of love and something that’s real fun and you can take your mind off of reality.”
The Cordells expect Brynlee to remain in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St. Charles-Bend until late November.
If you’d like to support families in a similar situation, Josh said the Ronald McDonald House would be a good place to help, especially for families from out of town.
