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Just 14% of Mississippi’s nursing homes have completed specialty COVID-19 training offered by the federal government to help squash transmission in their facilities.

Twenty-nine out of Mississippi’s 211 nursing homes have taken advantage of the free training as of early November — training at least 50% of their staff in COVID-19 infection control and vaccine distribution — according to new data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which regulates nursing homes.

Nationally about the same percent of all nursing homes have completed the training, so Mississippi is not alone in not ensuring all facilities have sought out and completed the training.

“We’ve provided nursing homes with $20 billion in federal funding, millions of pieces of PPE, free testing machines and supplies, and significant technical assistance and on-the-ground support,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement. “Ultimately, the ownership and management of every nursing (home) must take it on themselves to ensure their staff is fully equipped to keep residents safe. With coronavirus cases increasing across the country and infection control identified as a major issue, we encourage all nursing homes to take advantage of this no-cost opportunity to train their staff.”

The Mississippi facilities that participated in the training fare better than average for the rate of COVID-19 infection, signifying that the training is potentially translating to on-the-ground benefits for staff, and subsequently residents. Facilities that complete the free infection control course have a more than 10% reduction in overall resident cases, compared to Mississippi facilities that haven’t completed the training.

The training comes at a beneficial time for Mississippi nursing homes, where half of all residents have contracted the virus. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has said better infection control could help Mississippi nursing homes stem spread.

“In places with really good infection control practices, a lot of times we’ll find zero cases,” he said in May, when the state initiated universal testing for all nursing home residents and staff — something that’s up to individual facilities to do now, but fewer than a quarter test every resident after a new case as of Nov. 1, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending such testing. A little over 40% report conducting surveillance test of asymptomatic residents to gauge exposure.

Currently, the state has the most COVID-19 infections per capita among nursing homes and one in five of those who contract it die.

The Mississippi facilities who have completed the training average about 350 COVID-19 cases per 1,000 residents, compared to the state overall averaging about 400 cases per capita.

Within the 29 that completed it, five have had no reported cases at all — only 23 facilities statewide have never had a known case. Seven additional facilities that took the training have had between one and five cases. Overall, 40% of those facilities that had the training have seen five or fewer cases.

Too, those that completed the safety training have had fewer cases among staff, averaging 18 staff cases per facility, compared to 21 cases statewide.

Further, the death rate among residents who contract the virus is lower at facilities that complete the training — averaging 14% where it’s completed, and 20% across the state.

Of the 12 facilities across the state that have an infection rate of more than 100% — meaning more residents have contracted it than there are current residents, due to deaths, transfers and discharges — only two have completed the training.

Medicare partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address common concerns found during inspections at facilities across the U.S. with a high rate of COVID-19 infection, including: hand hygiene and proper PPE use, resident surveillance and isolation strategies, cleaning, and specialty care for those with dementia during the pandemic.

These are the nursing homes that have participated in Medicare’s safety training as of Nov. 3:

Nursing homes can find more about the training here. 

The post Most Mississippi nursing homes haven’t completed Medicare’s COVID-19 training appeared first on Mississippi Today.

We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Wednesday, November 18:

New cases: 1,593| New Deaths: 20

Total Hospitalizations: 868

Total cases: 137,396| Total Deaths: 3,601

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. On Nov. 16, Reeves added seven counties to the state’s mask-wearing mandate. The 22 counties under a mandate until Dec. 11 are: Benton, Carroll, Covington, DeSoto, Forrest, Harrison, Hinds, Humphreys, Itawamba, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lee, Madison, Marshall, Montgomery, Pontotoc, Rankin, Tate, Winston, and Yalobusha. State health officials still encourage widespread masking and credit the mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Wednesday, November 18

The seven-day new case average reached 1,143 today, a 54% increase since the start of November and the highest mark since Aug. 3. 

The health department has reported over 8,000 new cases in the last week; apart from the record surge in July and August — which saw a 13-day stretch with over 8,000 new weekly cases — this is the only other time Mississippi has reached that threshold. 

The number of hospitalizations have also begun to surge in the last month; using the seven-day rolling averages, total hospitalizations have increased by 32% in that time, ICU patients by 34%, and patients on ventilators by 36%. 

Overall, the state’s ICUs are 84% full, with COVID-19 patients comprising 26% of all ICU beds. Sixteen of the state’s highest level COVID-care centers are at 86% capacity, and five of them — both Baptist Memorial Hospitals in Southaven and in the Golden Triangle, University of Mississippi Medical Center and St. Dominic in Jackson, and the Delta Regional Medical Center in Greenville — have zero ICU beds available. 

According to the latest White House task force report, Mississippi’s test positivity rate is now 14%. 

Within the last two weeks, Mississippi has moved from “orange” to “red” on the Global Health Institute’s risk level tracker, meaning it now averages over 25 daily new cases per 100,000 residents. Despite the rise in cases in the state, Mississippi now ranks 31st in new cases per capita, dropping from 26th a week ago.

Counties across the state saw large increases in cases over the last week. Choctaw County (15% increase), Stone County (12%), Lincoln County (12%), Attala County (12%) and Marshall County (12%) saw the biggest surges in that span. 

MSDH reports that 116,683 people have recovered. 

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

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We are bringing you the latest COVID-19 Mississippi trends with daily case, death and hospitalization updates, as well as testing data charts and other helpful interactive maps and graphs.

This page was last updated Tuesday, November 17:

New cases: 905| New Deaths: 36

Total Hospitalizations: 807

Total cases: 135,803| Total Deaths: 3,581

Mask Mandates | On Sept. 30, Gov. Tate Reeves ended the statewide mask mandate order, originally issued Aug. 4. On Nov. 11, Reeves extended the mask mandate for the counties of: Benton, Carroll, Covington, DeSoto, Forrest, Harrison, Humphreys, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lee, Marshall, Rankin, and Yalobusha. State health officials still encourage widespread masking and credit the mandate with helping cases improve after a steep summer spike. View the full list of COVID-19 orders here.

All data and information reported by the Mississippi State Department of Health as of 6 p.m. yesterday

Weekly update: Tuesday, November 10

COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the U.S. — particularly overwhelming rural areas. In Mississippi this week, the average number of daily cases surpassed 900 for the first time in three months and has continued to climb. 

Tuesday’s jump of 933 cases brings the rolling average to 947 daily cases – only 20 days of the entire pandemic have reached this threshold. The jump also resulted in a 42% increase in average new cases over the last week — the 26th largest increase since the pandemic began, comprising the only jump that large not in the March/April or June/July case surges. 

The recent case surge also totaled more than 6,600 weekly cases for the state, or about 223 per 100,000 residents — the most since early August when peak summer cases were just beginning to decline. 

While counties in North Mississippi and on the Coast continue to see the most regional case growth, more central counties are starting to see spikes again, with Jefferson Davis (11% increase in the last week), Carroll and Stone County (both 10%) experiencing the sharpest rises. In central Carroll County, 19% of COVID-19 tests came back positive the last week of October, according to the state health department, while the Coast’s Jackson County saw more than a quarter of all tests come back positive.

Hospitalizations have sharply risen over the last month. Compared to a month ago, the seven-day average for hospitalizations is up 22%. Overall the state’s ICU beds are 87% full, compared to a baseline of 66% in 2018. The state’s 16 highest level COVID-19 hospitals’ ICUs are 92% full, housing 33% more patients with the coronavirus than three weeks ago.

According to Harvard’s Global Health Institute tracker, Mississippi ranks 26th in new cases per capita. The tracker puts Mississippi and neighboring states Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas all in the “red” risk level, indicating 25 or more new cases per 100,000 people. Louisiana, Florida and Georgia are in the “orange” risk level, the tier just below. 

As far as deaths, Mississippi now ranks sixth in most total deaths per capita after long hovering at seventh, and ranks 17th in recent deaths per capita, according to the New York Times’ tracker.  

MSDH estimates 111,430 people have recovered.

Click through the links below to view our interactive charts describing the trends around the coronavirus in Mississippi:

View our COVID-19 resource page for more information about coronavirus in Mississippi.

The post COVID-19 cases: Mississippi reports 905 new cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

When the Greenville Public School District opted in August for an all-virtual start because the coronavirus pandemic was ravaging Washington County, Superintendent Debra Dace wrote in the district’s return to school plan that the district “will always strive to make decisions that are in the best interest of students, staff and other stakeholders…”

But after multiple instances of being left in the dark about which students contracted the virus and a recent teacher’s death, at least one educator in the district told Mississippi Today her colleagues’ best interests are not being considered as promised.

The teacher in the district told Mississippi Today she learned someone in her building contracted the virus in late summer before classes began. It was announced on Facebook, but not directly communicated to the teachers in that building.

“Someone told me (that the district announced) it on Facebook, but I just don’t go on Facebook a lot,” the teacher told Mississippi Today. “So I did not know about it until someone shared it with me.”

Then on Nov. 3, a teacher in the Greenville School District died. A Facebook post from a family member said he died of COVID-19, but Mississippi Today was not able to confirm the cause of his death. Again, the district did not notify staff directly about this  but announced it on Facebook, the teacher said.

“That’s all I heard of. That’s it,” the Greenville teacher said.

One week later, the Greenville School District  announced it was moving all of its students back to virtual learning.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Mississippi spike for the third time this year, and many districts continue with traditional or hybrid learning, this is an issue playing out across the state.

While district officials say they are making decisions with student and teacher safety in mind, educators who spoke with Mississippi Today said they feel unsafe because no one is communicating to them when someone in the building contracts the virus, meaning they have no idea if they have been exposed and need to quarantine.

The teachers and parents Mississippi Today spoke with across the state for this article asked for anonymity over fear of retaliation from their local school districts. School administrators for the districts mentioned in this article — the Greenville Public School District, Cleveland Public School District and the Simpson County School District — refuted the allegations and said they were following proper channels of communication.

In the Cleveland School District, one parent said they were told this summer by the band director that their child would lose their spot if they did not attend band camp.

The child wound up contracting COVID-19, as did both of the student’s parents. One of the parents decided to let the band director know so she could communicate with other parents and help them be proactive about quarantining their children.

“I told her that my child was worried about losing their spot. She told me do not worry about it because they have had a few students who have been quarantined in the last couple weeks. I thought to myself, ‘Why haven’t the parents of this school district been alerted to this?’” the parent wrote in an email to Mississippi Today.

Later on in the school year, a different source close to the Cleveland School District said that administrators were not making teachers aware when they had been exposed. Instead, leaders were only sending lists to teachers of students who had to quarantine.

In the Simpson County School District, a teacher says that administrators are not telling teachers at all when they’ve been exposed to students who have contracted the coronavirus.

“Some of my students are currently out with COVID, and (school administrators) have not told anybody except for a very small handful of students that they may have been exposed,” the teacher told Mississippi Today. “We have older teachers who they haven’t been told, ‘Hey, you’ve been exposed to COVID.’ So really they’re just not telling any of the teachers.”

This teacher also reached out to the Mississippi State Department of Health to report what was happening, but was told it was up to the schools to decide who to tell when someone contracts the virus. This is in direct opposition to the guidelines set out by MSDH, which says districts must notify the group or school that a case of COVID-19 has been identified.

The Mississippi Department of Education has stated that all school districts are required to follow the  directives set out by MSDH, which say that anyone who comes into close contact with another person infected with the coronavirus should get tested and quarantine for 14 days, even if the test is negative.

If a teacher or staff member is deemed “essential” by the district but has been exposed to the virus, the teacher can keep working if they show no symptoms and have their symptoms and temperature monitored daily by the school, according to MSDH policy.

The health department policy also explicitly states that it is the district’s responsibility to notify the group or school that a case of COVID-19 was identified there.

“If that’s the policy, then the people who are answering phones at the health department don’t know it,” said the teacher in Simpson County.

In the Clarksdale Municipal School District, teachers said they hear “gossip” from co-workers, parents and students about the number of potential cases in their districts, but not from principals.

“There’s so much risk and no conversation about the risk at all. It’s scary,” a Clarksdale teacher said. “I feel pretty lucky I don’t have children I don’t bring this home to. I know that’s a position a lot of the teachers are in.”

Additionally, the Clarksdale teachers said they feel the district does not care about the safety and wellbeing of teachers and staff. The Clarksdale district has not provided personal protective equipment (PPE) since the start of school, they said. As a way to ensure their classroom is sanitized, they bought supplies using their own money or parents gave them wipes and sanitizers.

“It makes me feel really uneasy, and our administration (says) we are a team, yet that teamwork only extends to state testing priorities and not to teacher health or teacher wellbeing,” another Clarksdale teacher said.

Earl Joe Nelson, Jr., superintendent of the Clarksdale school district, said the district is “far from out” of PPE and makes weekly deliveries to the schools. He urged teachers to first contact their principals for concerns and guidelines from the CDC and MSDH. However, if they are dissatisfied, they can personally reach out to him, he said.

“Our goal isn’t to keep them in the dark … We have people overly concerned, and we also have people that don’t wanna (come to) work,” he said in a phone call with Mississippi Today. “If they need anything addressed, I would take full responsibility for this … and address the school right away.”

As a result of continued spread of the virus in schools, Nelson said two schools have closed in the district: Clarksdale High and George H. Oliver Elementary. Both were offering a hybrid model of learning but are now entirely virtual.

Having open lines of communication between school administration and teachers can alleviate the anxiety and fear they have, said Erica Jones, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators.

“We’ve said this over and over again, this is a matter of life or death,” Jones said. “Our educators are going into these buildings day in and day out. Let’s stop being so secretive of things … our educators should be afforded with information about district personnel as it comes to COVID.”

While many teachers are upset by the way their districts handle communication about the virus, some feel their school could be a model for how to do this properly.

In Prentiss County School District, for example, school staff are made aware when someone on campus has contracted COVID-19 and are told they will be contacted personally if they have been exposed to the virus.

“I absolutely agree and appreciate the way they are handing it. You want to know that it’s happening on your campus or around you,” said Alison Rausch, a teacher in Prentiss County School District.

Similarly, the Clinton Public School District regularly sends out press releases whenever someone in the district contracts the virus.

As of Nov. 10, data provided by MSDH shows a total of at least 7,127 teachers, students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of school.

This data is variable because it’s self-reported, and the number of schools that report varies from week to week. Many teachers also allege those statistics are inaccurate because school administrators aren’t truthfully reporting how many people in the school district actually became infected with the virus.

Teachers in those districts where school leaders aren’t communicating with them about campus infections say they feel like administrators don’t care at all about their wellbeing.

“It’s scary because I feel like we’re sitting ducks,” said the Greenville Public School teacher. “We’re just sitting here waiting to get this virus.”

The post Teachers, parents share concerns about how districts communicate COVID-19 cases appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Governor Tate Reeves throws a little political red meat out with his budget proposal. Will it be enough to win back his voters who are mad at him for signing the legislation to change the flag or proposing mask mandates?

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Gov. Tate Reeves wants lawmakers to eliminate the state’s income tax, which generates about 32% of Mississippi’s general fund revenue, forgo a public school teacher pay raise, which was one of his key 2019 campaign promises, and spend $3 million on a “Patriotic Education Fund,” which would financially reward schools that combat “revisionist history” that is “poisoning a generation.”

The Republican governor released his budget plan on Monday in advance of the 2020 session, when legislators will work to fund a budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1. Lawmakers set the state budget and seldom follow recommendations from a governor.

The executive budget recommendation advocates that the personal income tax, which generates about $1.9 billion annually, be phased out by 2030.

“Because this plan is a phased approach, we will be able to ensure adequate funding will be available for education, law enforcement, health care, and transportation priorities,” the governor wrote in a budget narrative. He said the proposal will save someone earning $40,00 about $1,850 per year.

During his successful 2019 campaign for governor, Reeves proposed a four-year plan to increase teacher pay by $4,200 as one of his top priorities. During the 2020 session, it appeared that the legislative leadership and Reeves were poised to provide teachers a major salary increase, but those plans were put on hold by an anticipated decrease in state revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As recently as last week, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said he supports a 2021 teacher pay raise if revenue allows it.

On Monday, during a Facebook event, Reeves said state revenue was strong and advocated for the elimination of the income tax, but did not address the teacher pay increase.

“Mississippi needs to make a bold move to attract new business and residents,” he said, explaining his reasoning on eliminating the income tax.

Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, who is the 1990s authored a major income tax cut, said “now is not the time to be cutting taxes” during the pandemic. He said education, transportation and multiple other areas of state government were under funded.

“If we cut taxes, there is that much less much money available for the public schools,” Bryan said. “We are not funding the schools now at what the law requires and the reason they (political leadership) say we are not doing that is that we do not have the money, but we have the money for this tax cut.”

The Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which provides for the basic operation of local school districts, is level-funded in Reeves’ proposal – more than $250 million short of full funding.

Bryan argued that if a tax cut was passed by the Legislature, it should be to eliminate the 7% tax on food, which is the highest state-imposed tax of its kind in the nation. He said Mississippi’s high tax on food disproportionately harms the state’s poor residents.

Overall, Reeves said most agencies were level-funded in his $6.13 billion budget proposal. Reeves’ proposed budget is in reality $1.17 billion or 16.1% less than the actual budget for the current fiscal year. But the budget for the current year contains more than $1 billion in one-time federal funds to combat the coronavirus. Of that federal money, $200,000 went to public schools.

In his budget, Reeves proposes limiting funding to schools that are not providing in-person learning because of COVID-19.

In the area of education, Reeves is proposing $3 million for a Patriotic Education Fund to combat “indoctrination in the far-left socialist teachings that emphasize America’s shortcomings over the exceptional achievements of this country.”

“Revisionist history has aimed to tear down American institutions, and it is poisoning a generation,” Reeves wrote in his budget proposal. “Capitalism, democracy, and other uniquely American values have been the victims of a targeted campaign from foreign and domestic influence—aiming to destroy the pillars of our society. The United States is the greatest country in the history of the world. No other nation has done more for its citizens or to advance freedom and prosperity across the globe. We need to combat the dramatic shift in education.”

In addition, Reeves also is touting funds to hire math coaches for the public schools, expand computer science programs and provide additional funds for workforce training.

The governor proposes funds to help small businesses impacted by the pandemic. He also wants additional funds for the police training academy, saying those funds were in response to others calling for a reduction in police funding.

“Over the last several months, law enforcement officers across the country have come under attack for doing their jobs,” Reeves wrote. “These brave men and women put their lives on the line every day to ensure the safety of our communities. I am committed to providing adequate resources for our law enforcement officers so that they have the training and resources necessary to perform their duties.”

The post Gov. Reeves budget: Eliminate income tax, skip teacher pay hike, create ‘Patriotic Education Fund’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday added seven more counties to a mask-wearing mandate because of COVID-19, bringing the total to 22 counties.

The mandate, which includes mask wearing and tighter restrictions on group gatherings, will run at least through Dec. 11.

The counties added Monday are: Hinds, Madison, Pontotoc, Tate, Winston, Itawamba and Montgomery. Counties that were already under the mandate: Benton, Carroll, Covington, DeSoto, Forrest, Harrison, Humphreys, Jackson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lee, Marshall, Rankin, and Yalobusha.

Reeves, who remains in isolation along with his family after one of his daughters tested positive for COVID-19 last week, in a Facebook live address urged all Mississippians to wear masks in public, even if they are not in counties under his executive orders mandating them.

“It does make a difference,” Reeves said. “It does have an impact.”

Reeves said the pandemic “is not getting significantly better — in fact, it’s getting marginally worse.”

The average number of daily cases in Mississippi surpassed 1,000 on Friday and has continued to climb, nearing record numbers from during the peak in the summer.

Reeves on Sept. 30 lifted a statewide mask mandate — making Mississippi the first state to rescind such a mandate — that he had issued on Aug. 4, and he relaxed restrictions on social gatherings. Since then, cases have risen.

During the span of the statewide mask mandate, Mississippi cases plummeted, dropping by 54%.

Reeves had been hesitant to issue a statewide mask order in the summer, instead taking a county-by-county approach until state hospitals were becoming overloaded. He has said that a county-by-county approach to mask mandates and other restrictions as cases spike is better because people are more likely to pay attention and heed the orders. He has also said he dislikes using the “heavy hand of government” to order mask wearing and other mandates.

Calls for a reimplementation of a statewide mask mandate have increased in recent days, as top health officials in Mississippi continue to directly or indirectly pressure the governor to act.

“It’s time. We are tired. And worried,” Dr. LouAnn Woodward, the vice chancellor of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, tweeted on Nov. 14. “Wearing a mask makes a difference. We all want to keep businesses and schools open. We don’t have to continue to watch the trainwreck. We can change the outcome. Please.”

The post Gov. Tate Reeves adds seven counties to mask-wearing mandate for COVID-19 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

It was 50 years ago last week the college football world took a long timeout to grieve. The charter plane carrying the Marshall football team home from a game at East Carolina on Nov. 14, 1970, crashed and burned about a mile from the strip where it was supposed to land in Huntington, W.Va.

And here’s something I never knew until Sunday: That same plane, a Southern Airways charter jet, was supposed to pick up the Mississippi State football team later that night in Baton Rouge to return the Bulldogs home from a game at LSU.

“We waited and waited and waited; that plane never came,” said Jackson dentist Lewis Grubbs, a star sophomore halfback on that 1970 Mississippi State team.

The plane, a Southern Airways two-engine DC-9, was carrying 70 passengers and a five-person crew. All perished in the crash. Investigators determined the cause of the crash was either pilot error or instrument panel malfunction.

As with those in most of the country, State players had heard the horrible news of the Marshall team crash, which occurred at just about the time their own game with LSU was beginning. They did not know that the crashed plane was supposed to be their plane until well into their airport wait. Coach Charles Shira gathered the team and explained the situation to them while Southern Airways searched for another plane.

Older folks may remember that the Marshall team crash was the second football-related air tragedy of the 1970 season. On Oct. 2 of that year, a plane carrying members of the Wichita State team crashed in Colorado, killing 31 of 37 on board.

The Marshall crash was more deadly and is the one more remembered. A documentary and an acclaimed movie, “We Are Marshall,” was made, the latter starring Matthew McConaughey.

Says Grubbs, “I don’t see how anyone can watch that movie with dry eyes.”

Grubbs, a Prentiss native, was working toward his own pilot’s license at the time.

“So I knew something about flying, including all the statistics about how much safer it was getting on an airplane that getting into your car,” Grubbs said. “Still I was like everybody else that night. I had serious reservations about getting on the plane.”

Grubbs remembers one funny part of the entire episode. “They opened up the canteen at the airport and let us get whatever we wanted to eat and drink,” he said. “We had some fans with us and one of them – he was a judge I think – found the liquor cabinet. He told us he wasn’t going to get on any plane sober that night, and he made darn sure he didn’t. No way he ever knew he got on that plane or got off.”

Larry Templeton, who was a sports information assistant who would go on to become the school’s athletic director, was on the flight as well.

“That’s been a long, long time, but I remember how somber the mood was waiting for the flight and then how quiet it was on the plane,” Templeton said. “And I remember a couple players who had been really scared riding back in a car with the highway patrol men who had been with us for the game.”

Says Grubbs, who really was a running back, “LSU had popped us pretty good. We had beaten Oklahoma State and Georgia and we would beat Ole Miss. We had a winning record. But I do remember that all the sudden none of that mattered very much. I remember that I just sat there and thought about how an entire football team, one just like ours, had been killed in an instant. All those young people with a whole life in front of them. I still think about it every time I see a Marshall score.”

•••

Twenty-one years after the Marshall tragedy, I was speaking with Nate Ruffin, who was then of the human resources director of The Clarion Ledger, where I worked at the time. During the course of conversation, Ruffin, since deceased, told me that he was a captain of that 1970 Marshall team. He would have been on that disastrous flight if not for an injury that caused him to miss the trip.

After the tragedy, Ruffin manned the phones in the Marshall athletic department, delivering the news to families of his friends. He attended funerals and memorial services in eight states. He then played on the 1971 Marshall football team, highlighted in the movie, that heroically won three games.

Worst assignment of all: Ruffin was asked to help identify bodies at the morgue.

“These people, these big, strong young men, were shrunken to the size of dolls,” Ruffin told me.

Ruffin identified his best friend from the jewelry he wore.

For Ruffin, nightmares continued for years. Strangely, he felt guilty. “Why them? Why not me? It makes no sense but you tell yourself: I should have been on that plane.”

Ruffin told me he spent a dozen years numbing himself with alcohol and drugs before coming out of that dark period while making a speech at a memorial to his fallen teammates. For the first time since the tragedy, he said, he bared his soul, wept openly. It was a spiritual cleansing and healing, he said.

He spent most of the rest of his life helping other people.

Nate Ruffin was a big, friendly guy — solid as a rock. He died in 2001, a victim of leukemia. He is buried in Huntington beside six of his teammates — six who could not be identified.

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