For 42 days, Brian Foster was in a coma.
For 29 days, his wife, Natasha, and their two children, Brandon and Nevaeh, couldn’t look into Brian’s eyes. He opened them for the first time on the day of Brandon’s graduation from Mishawaka Marian High School.
For 13 days and counting, Brian has been in a “minimally conscious state,” technically out of a coma but not yet aware of his surroundings.
For now, that’s good enough for his wife and children.
“The worst-case scenario hasn’t happened,” Nevaeh said in a June 20 interview with the South Bend Tribune. “Being able to still see my dad and talk to him, even though he can’t respond verbally, he responds in different ways. My dad has always been a glue to a family, a friendship, everything. He would want us to be positive and find the good in everything.”
Navigating the obstacle course
Foster’s car was T-boned by a semi at the intersection of U.S.-30 and Union Road in Marshall County May 1. The C2-C5 vertebrae in Foster’s neck were broken, as were some of his ribs and his pelvis, and one of his lungs was punctured. His pelvis has since healed due to more than six weeks of inactivity, and his lung has been stabilized.
The most debilitating injury was a Diffuse Axonal Injury, which is a result of stretching and tearing of the brain’s long nerve fibers, causing chemical imbalances and communication disruptions with the brain’s neurons.
Foster is currently at Rush Specialty Hospital in Chicago, where he has been ever since being transferred from Memorial Hospital in South Bend June 2. Eighteen days later, Natasha said just before her interview with the Tribune started that Brian was able to differentiate between his left and right foot while lying in bed for the first time.
In a matter of days, he will be transferred into the Amicous Program at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab as he begins to take the next steps toward full consciousness.
“I just see it as a little obstacle course, and we’re going to get through it,” Brandon said. “This has brought us together, and we’re even stronger. Listening to songs he really likes when I’m by myself makes me feel like he’s there.”
Natasha said the first night sitting by Brian’s hospital bed was the hardest. She didn’t sleep at all, and the emotions of her family’s lives changing forever in an instant were all flooding at once.
After a while, she took a step back and told herself there were only two ways to approach what was sure to be a long road ahead. She could either dwell on all of the negatives that came with the situation, or she could do what, in her mind, was the right thing.
That meant doing anything in her power to not only be there for her children and family, but to make sure Brian got the best recovery possible. She began sharing daily updates on Facebook. She and Nevaeh started a GoFundMe. She did the necessary research to not only find Brian’s next hospital, but a long-term recovery program as well.
“I woke up with a new attitude and stopped crying about it,” Natasha said. “Now, I have my moments, but I’ve researched everything. You have to advocate for him yourself, and that’s what keeps me positive. He shows progress every day. It’s going in the right direction, not one thing has gone backwards in 50 plus days, and that’s what keeps us going.
“I’m still being me; I’m still getting ready every day because he would want me to. Eventually, he’s going to make a recovery, and I have to be healthy so we can continue to enjoy our lives together.”
‘He is my why’
Since the early 2000s, Brian has been a staple of the South Bend area basketball scene. A 2002 Riley High School alumnus who was an All-State basketball player, Brian also continued his hoops career collegiately, including a stop at Marian University-Ancilla in 2004.
Since graduating college, Brian has played in local men’s leagues and coached at the elementary to collegiate level. Most recently, he has been a boys and girls basketball assistant at Marian High School since 2018 and the men’s head coach at Marian University-Ancilla since 2025.
The Foster family has become synonymous with basketball. Nevaeh is Marian High School’s all-time leading scorer with 2,243 career points, and she has since played collegiately at Western Kentucky University and IU Indianapolis before most recently transferring to the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC).
As Brian continues to recover in a hospital bed, Nevaeh will often put a basketball in her father’s hands and mimic dribbling or shooting motions to stimulate his brain. Natasha will even play Survivor’s 1982 song “Eye of the Tiger” to remind Brian of his time playing for the Wildcats nearly 25 years ago, or she’ll put some of Brian’s favorite movies on a nearby laptop, like 1992’s “White Men Can’t Jump” or 1998’s “He Got Game.”
“Seeing everyone come together in different ways for my dad has meant a lot to me,” Nevaeh said. “Being able to shoot and do drills like my dad would put me and my brother through has been therapeutic.”
Brandon is the Knights’ single-season assist leader and hit a buzzer-beating layup to send Marian’s 2026 sectional championship game vs. Culver Academies into overtime, which it eventually won. He originally planned to play for his dad at Marian University-Ancilla but decided to attend Indiana University-South Bend this fall instead to be closer to Brian during his recovery.
“I didn’t have a ‘why’ for basketball,” Brandon said. “I didn’t have any motivation to strive for, but now I have something to keep me going. He is my why now.”
Although basketball is certainly an instrumental part of Brian’s life, Natasha was sure to point out that it isn’t his whole life. In fact, his full-time job is with Beacon Community Impact, a non-profit based in Elkhart, Marshall and Saint Joseph counties.
Brian speaks to local youth about suicide prevention and the dangers of vaping and opioid addiction. He also makes appearances throughout Saint Joseph County offering NARCAN training, which is a life-saving medication used in the event of an opioid overdose.
Natasha recounted numerous occasions in which Brian’s presentations made a real impact on members of the community. First, a waiter at Cheddar’s told Brian he stopped vaping because of him. Someone at Sam’s Club told Brian that his NARCAN training helped save his brother’s life. Someone else told Brian his presentations helped convince himself and a friend not to attempt suicide.
“Beyond the basketball court, he’s out there doing God’s work,” Natasha said. “That’s his passion — to help kids. He has a gift to talk to the community.”
The Foster family is staying steadfast in their belief that Brian will be back chasing his passion in no time. Natasha, who has been taking a leave of absence from her job to be available for 24/7 support of Brian, continues to keep the community updated on Brian’s next steps via their CaringBridge page.
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Marian basketball coach Brian Foster out of coma after May car accident
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
