Doing it for Derek
<p>Derek Cleveland, coach at the Iron Lion Jiu-Jitsu Academy, addresses young student during class Thursday at the Dalton Gardens training facility. Cleveland has been diagnosed with a rare pulmonary condition that requires a high-cost surgery.</p>
<p>Kyle Bridge holds Jaken Lawrence on the mat while working on jiujitsu techniques at a recent class. Ten students of Derek Cleveland's Iron Lion Jiu-Jitsu Academy will be competing in the Kids World International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship tournament without their coach.</p>
DALTON GARDENS - Jena Paul says Derek Cleveland has changed her kids' lives.
Now Paul, and other likeminded parents whose children train with the longtime jiujitsu coach, are rallying to help Cleveland pay for medical care that will likely save his life.
"All of us would do anything we can for him," said Paul, who has three children coached by Cleveland at his gym, Iron Lion Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Dalton Gardens.
Angie Bridge, whose 8-year-old son, Kyle, has trained with Cleveland for four years, said the parents, students and Cleveland are like a family.
Cleveland, 45, is battling chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and chronic pulmonary embolism, conditions that are now causing the right side of his heart to fail.
He was diagnosed with the condition, caused by blood clots that have formed in his lungs, after he began coughing up blood on the Fourth of July, and was hospitalized for nearly two weeks. "They say I've had this for years," Cleveland said.
Diagnosed with asthma as a young child, Cleveland said he has never lived without shortness of breath. He started his martial arts training at the age of 7, and quickly learned to adjust his training and attitude to overcome the effects of the bronchial disorder.
"I just trained harder," he said. "I learned how to control my mental and emotional state."
Relying on oxygen from a tank, Cleveland was at his gym Thursday, sitting on the side of the mat as 10 of his top students, ages 6-16, completed a final training session before they head, without their coach, to San Bernardino, Calif., this weekend to compete at the Kids World international jiujitsu championship tournament.
"I've never missed a tournament with my kids," Cleveland said.
Dyton Galliher, a coach Cleveland trained, will go to the tournament in Cleveland's place. Cleveland said Galliher's temperament and techniques are similar to his own.
"He'll lead them to victory," Cleveland said.
Cleveland is hopeful he'll return to the mat to train students again.
He hopes to be eligible for a complex and costly surgical procedure, a pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, available at UC San Diego Health System's Cardiovascular Center, where it was developed. The procedure has a high success rate.
"If I have this operation, my heart will pump again," Cleveland said. "They call it a medical miracle. I can have a second chance."
The surgery will likely cost between $100,000 and $250,000, Cleveland said, and if approved for it, he will have to travel to Southern California for the operation and remain near the medical center during the early recovery period.
A self-employed, small-business owner, Cleveland has no health insurance.
His students' parents are planning a benefit auction that will take place in August.
"He would do this for any of us," said Angie Bridge.
The parents are also helping spread the word about a crowd funding website one of Cleveland's relatives set up for him at GiveForward.com. The name of Cleveland's campaign, which can be searched at the site, is Fight for Derek Cleveland Fund.
Donations can also be made at any Wells Fargo Bank into an account set up for Cleveland, account number 5664924536.