 A man with a state full of admirers
Friends and family keep vigil
Concern for Jones spread quickly
UH fans reacted to news of accident with shock, prayers
Chang 'knew something was wrong'
KHON-TV video report in small (1.3 Mb), large (9.1 Mb) and streaming formats.
Send your best wishes and aloha to the coach.
Join a discussion on the accident's impact on the UH football program.
By Dan Nakaso,
Scott Ishikawa
and Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writers
June Jones, the University of Hawai‘i coach who became a ubiquitous symbol of success across the Islands by turning around a hapless football team, was in critical but stable condition this morning after his car veered off the H-1 Freeway and smashed into a concrete pillar yesterday.
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| University of Hawai'i basketball commentator Artie Wilson consoles June Jones' daughter, Nikki, on a lanai at the Queen's Medical Center.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Jones, who turned 48 on Monday, suffered a skull fracture, chest and abdominal injuries. He underwent the second of two, 2-hour operations last night to control internal bleeding.
The news of the crash stunned people throughout Hawai‘i.
The Queen’s Medical Center was so overwhelmed by callers checking on Jones’ condition that the hospital asked that people stop calling.
"We all understand what June means to our community and all the good things he has done, not only for the University of Hawai‘i but the entire state of Hawai‘i," said UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida. "Please join all of us in the athletics department in prayer for June’s full recovery."
Jones’ major injuries were bleeding in the abdomen and a tear in his aorta, the main artery that supplies blood to the lower half of the body, said Queen’s trauma doctors Gail Tominaga and Neil Fergusson.
Jones arrived in the emergency room unconscious and unresponsive because of a possible concussion, Fergusson said. But the results of a CAT scan were normal, a sign that Fergusson called "encouraging."
"His blood pressure is stable, and the bleeding has been controlled," Fergusson said last night. Jones remained overnight in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Doctors said they didn’t know if Jones suffered a seizure or any other medical problem that might have caused him to lose control of his car.
The doctors’ next concern is looking for injuries not evident during the initial treatment, Fergusson said. Patients with multiple injuries also must be monitored for infections, he said.
Jones was driving alone from a meeting in Kane‘ohe, Yoshida said.
He was town-bound on H-1 near the Nimitz Highway off-ramp when he lost control of the car at 10:35 a.m., police said.
His black, 1999 Lincoln Town Car veered off the H-1 and slammed into a concrete bridge abutment 78 feet from where the car left the highway.
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| Dr. Gail Tominaga and Dr. Neil Fergusson explained the nature of injuries suffered by Jones in the one-car accident.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Jones was not wearing a seat belt, and his head apparently twisted around the air bag and hit the car’s windshield, police said.
It did not appear that Jones was speeding, police said. There were no skid marks.
The impact pushed the car’s engine back into the passenger compartment, pinning Jones’ right knee under the steering wheel. The force of the crash bent the hood of the car like an accordion.
Golf clubs scattered inside the car, including one that snapped in half and wedged itself into the steering wheel. Jones learned the sport at age 7 and played on the Celebrity Players Tour.
Fire crews arrived at 10:52 a.m. and saw people running toward the crushed car. Emergency Medical Services paramedics and police already were tending to Jones, said Fire Capt. Moke Hauanio.
"As I was running toward the car, one of the officers, I believe, said that was June Jones," Hauanio said. "It didn’t make a difference. We were there to extricate and get somebody, who needed help, out."
Jones was briefly conscious when he was pulled from the wreckage but was unconscious by the time medical personnel took him to an ambulance, police said.
At the hospital, dozens of people, including friends, coaches, players and UH officials gathered, many of them in tears.
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris said the news stunned him and his wife, Ramona. "We join all of Hawai‘i’s citizens in praying for his full recovery and for his family to be strong during this most trying time," Harris said.
Gov. Ben Cayetano was told about the crash while on his way to Washington, where he will attend a meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend.
"He has had such a positive influence on our student athletes, our people and our state," Cayetano said. "Our prayers are with June and his family in this difficult time, and we hope for a speedy and full recovery."
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| Jones' Lincoln Town Car struck a support pillar at the Pearl Harbor/Nimitz off-ramp from the H-1 Freeway town-bound.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Word spread quickly across the UH campus. "You always think of something like this happening to the bad guys," said wide receiver Justin Colbert. "He’s such a good guy. It’s hard to believe something terrible could happen to him. All you can do now is to give him your blessings and hope he’s strong enough to pull through."
UH basketball coach Riley Wallace relayed word from the hospital to the coaching staff.
"Our prayers are with him. He’s a very special person," Wallace said. "I hope all the prayers of the state are behind him. He’ll need that through this tough time."
June Sheldon Jones III took over the UH football program in December 1999 after the team ran up the nation’s longest active losing streak of 19 games.
He inherited nearly the same group of players but motivated and inspired them to a 9-4 record. That year, UH won the O‘ahu Bowl and conference co-championship — the Rainbows’ first WAC title since 1992.
Attendance shot up by 9,000 tickets per game and fans half-jokingly talked about a "June Jones for governor" campaign.
CNN/Sports Illustrated, American Football Coach/Schutt Sports and the Sporting News named Jones national coach of the year. The WAC also picked Jones as its coach of the year.
Jones came to UH from the San Diego Chargers, where he was interim head coach and had been the quarterbacks’ coach.
A native of Portland, Ore., Jones played quarterback for the University of Oregon, UH and Portland State University. Professionally, he played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in 1977-81 and for the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts in 1982.
He began his coaching career at UH in 1983, coaching quarterbacks. He went on to the Houston Gamblers, Denver Gold, Ottawa Roughriders, Houston Oilers and Detroit Lions and was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in1994-96.
Jones and his wife, Diane, have four children.
Advertiser staff writers Stephen Tsai, Beverly Creamer, Robbie Dingeman, Brandon Masuoka and Sally Apgar contributed to this report.
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