SEATTLE — An umpire injured Friday during a football game between the Sequim High School Wolves and the Port Townsend Redhawks was listed in satisfactory condition at a Seattle hospital on Saturday.
Bill Noard of Port Angeles was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after he was accidentally tackled by players on Memorial Field in Port Townsend, Mike Wilson, coordinator of the North Olympic Football Officials Association, said Saturday afternoon. He said Noard was 69 or 70 years old.
Wilson was a referee at the game.
Noard’s nurse said he “is doing well,” said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.
As umpire, Noard “was behind the defensive line about 5 to 7 yards back, and the ball carrier was … coming his way and was tackled right there. He got smashed and hit down and fell and hit his head,” Wilson said.
“It was a hard hit.”
The grass and turf at Memorial Field “is very good, but he got flattened. He was right there when the tackle was made and was trying to get out of the way and back out of the way, but there was nothing he could do,” Wilson said, adding that the incident appeared to be an accident.
The injury caused “bleeding in the brain,” Wilson said.
“They have controlled the bleeding, but right now, he still has loss of feeling in his left side,” Wilson said.
“When the blood goes away and he starts rehabbing, hopefully he will be sent to a rehab in the Port Angeles/Sequim area later next week.”
Wilson credited an ambulance crew with East Jefferson Fire-Rescue for quickly responding to the injury.
“They were right there,” he said.
“I stopped the clock and got right to him and they were almost at the same time. They took really good care of him and got him up to” Jefferson Healthcare hospital, from which he was transported to Harborview.
The thoughts and prayers of Noard’s fellow umpires are with him, Wilson said.
“It is really tough to start the first game of the season and go ahead and lose someone like that,” Wilson said.
Noard recently moved to Port Angeles from California to live with family members, Wilson said.
________
Features Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at [email protected] peninsuladailynews.com.
