Alhambra football coach Alan Hern and family overcomes Boston Marathon bombings

MARTINEZ, Calif. — Alhambra (Martinez, Calif.) football coach Alan Hern comes from a strong military background. He was a lieutenant in the Navy and served in active duty from 1993-98 and was deployed to the Persian Gulf. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for superior performance.

The fit and trim 41-year-old has used that training 11 seasons as coach — the last three-plus as the Bulldogs' head coach — to prepare his players through tough and stressful times. He's drawn from specific military drills like being dumped from a helicopter into the ocean, swimming a mile in street clothes and navigating through a room filled with tear gas without a mask.

"Getting through experiences like those helps you with any tough situation in life," he said. "It gives you confidence that you can handle anything and it wipes out any negative thoughts during those tough times when things get scary

"That's a big reason why I coach football."

But Hern said he's coaching a little different in the early stages of the 2013 season and for pretty obvious reasons.

He and his family — 12-year-old son Aaron, 10-year-old daughter Abigail and wife Katherine — were all victims of the April 15th Boston Marathon bombings.

Miraculously all four escaped largely unscathed, though Aaron, an Alhambra ball boy, sustained a pierced eardrum, a deep wound to his left leg that required 86 staples and confinement to a wheelchair for five weeks.

He, his father and Abigail were all within 20 feet of the second explosion, while Katherine was on the course, a quarter mile from the finish. The family was cheering her home before the two pressure-cooker bombs exploded releasing shrapnel that included bits of metal, nails and bearing balls. The lid of one of the pressure cookers was found on a nearby rooftop.

Their harrowing story of survival from one of the nation's most brutal terrorist attacks that killed three and injured 264 others has been told many times by the national and international media. 

They've met the first lady Michelle Obama, been guests of the White House and virtually all of the Bay Area professional sporting teams, and Aaron has hit the ground running — and poolside swimming — to what looks to be a very promising athletic/endurance career.

Still, the emotional scars from living through a virtual war zone is difficult to measure.

"There's a lot of good things that happened through all of this and a lot of bad things," Alan Hern said. "It's definitely been a mixed blessing."

Stronger than ever
Which has led to his coaching change for the Bulldogs, who are off to a mixed 1-1-1 start following a 42-0 win at Ygnacio Valley on Friday. The Bulldogs host Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa, Calif.) on Friday.

"Like always, I'm trying to push them to be good, but I'm trying to be more human about it," he said at a practice before the season. "Not that I was ever a tyrant before or a crazy yeller. It's a different sort of encouragement. It's more like they're my kids and not just my players."

Senior center Matthew Brady said he's seen a change, but not necessarily a softer side.

"If anything, he appears stronger to me," Brady said. "He never broke down when he got back. He got right back at it and made sure we knew Aaron was OK."

Aaron, a standout quarterback in youth football, has been a fixture on Alhambra sidelines for years.

"Coach knew how close we all are with Aaron," Brady said. "He's like our 12th man. He didn't want us to worry about him."

Alhambra quarterback Joshua Evans said he was just thankful his dad was there for him during the bombings and its chaotic aftermath.

"If anyone can help a kid through something, it is coach Hern," Evans said. "Especially as something as traumatic as that. Aaron is going to be good. He's a tough, well-adjusted kid."

Hern said he was about 10 feet from the bomb when it detonated, but Aaron was seven feet closer. His daughter was within a couple arm lengths. Re-telling the nightmare appears almost therapeutic for Hern, who recounts every minute detail.

"Aaron was right on top of it," Hern said. "When the first bomb went off we all turned and looked in one direction. When the second hit, it was just all so disorienting. You could feel the wave of the bomb and the sound was enormous. Then there was a big cloud of smoke and the smell of black powder. I can still smell it."

"At least I have one"
Hern said his son was somewhere in the cloud. But when he turned to look, he saw Abigail sitting up four rows on some bleachers.

"I'm not sure how she got there. She was hysterical and screaming," he said. "I just grabbed her. I remember my first thought was ‘at least I have one of them.' I had no idea where Aaron was."

After securing his daughter to a friend at an indoor restaurant, Hern raced back outside to find Aaron.

"The smoke had cleared," he said. "People were hurt everywhere. Horrible injuries. I looked and locked eyes with Aaron. I get to him and I'm literally on my knees with my face on his. He's laid out with a big hole in his leg. His hair is all stood up. His face is black from all the smoke. His eyebrows are singed off.

"He was doing pretty good considering. He was scared, but he wasn't freaking out."

Medics and strangers came to help. Someone made a makeshift tourniquet from a belt. Soon Aaron was whisked away in an ambulance.

"I stood up, looked around and he was gone," Hern said. "It looked like a war zone all around. I remember thinking, ‘now what?' "

Human barriers
Aaron told his dad later that he thought it was all a dream. "He couldn't hear much. He said he felt like he was on fire. He saw others hurt. He thought he might die or that he might be dead already. It was all very surreal."

Aaron got the medical attention he needed. The family eventually was reunited. Relief and sheer gratefulness set in. So did anger and questions and even survivor's guilt.

"We were fortunate not to absorb much shrapnel because others did," Hern said. "We were sparred by human barriers, people less fortunate than us."

Aaron endured two surgeries at Boston Children's Hospital and returned home to Martinez by his 12th birthday. Inactive for five weeks, the only sport he could attempt immediately was swimming and he pulled off gold standard times and won a recreational league meet by himself. Six weeks later, he flew to Cooperstown (N.Y.) for a youth baseball tournament.

His first inning on the mound he struck out the side. The next half inning he hit a home run. This from a kid who ran a 42:30 10K as a 10-year-old. That's 6.1 miles.

"He's a phenomenal kid," Alan said. "He has such will power. It's one thing to be inactive for five weeks like that, but to overcome such a traumatic ordeal is pretty remarkable."

The apple evidently doesn't fall far from the tree. Alan will attempt his first Ironman triathlon in Lake Tahoe later this month. He and Katherine, also an endurance athlete, are expecting their third child in November.

And the Alhambra football team, coming off a 2-7 record, appear to be in the hunt for a Diablo Foothill Athletic League title. With Evans back for a second season, three strong running backs, superb skill players, and an excellent junior class (the JV team went 9-1 last season), Hern expects a very good season.

But considering what he and his family have endured since April 15, even if the season goes South it won't be the end of his world. Not by a long shot.

"I want us to do well, I really do," he said. "I enjoy spending time with the kids. I've never held winning as life and death. But I'm definitely not holding on as tight as I was before. I felt earlier in my career, at times, that I wanted it more than the kids sometimes. I don't think that's the case any more."