This article appeared in the Register-Herald, date unknown.Those who know him as former Woodrow Wilson all-state football player Chris Grose know the Beckley native as one tough customer.
Those who know him as former Marshall fullback Chris Grose know the one-time fan favorite as one tough customer.
Those who know him as Dr. Chris, California chiropractor, know him as one tough customer.
Now you know what they know.
Chris Grose is indeed one tough customer.
When he turned in his pads after his football days ended and found he needed a tough-guy outlet, he naturally went into Ultimate Fighting.
He had his first brawl scheduled for January 15.
Little did he know that he would be in a bigger fight before that. The fight for his life.
Thanks to a group of thugs on a California beach, that was the hand of fate dealt Grose.
Grose, who has an office in Newport Beach, was released from a California hospital Friday after a 38-day stay, thanks to an altercation that not only fell the tough guy, but nearly killed him.
He'll tell you he had never lost a fight before. Ever.
"Anytime I was presented that type of challenge, I took it," he said. "And I never lost."
Then he found out one is not divisible by 10 to 12 guys. More importantly, it's not feasible.
Here's what went down:
"We were on the beach on New Year's Eve and one of my buddies was talking to this girl," Grose said. "It happened to be the girlfriend of a guy in this group 10 to 12 guys."
This group of troublemakers took exception and Grose felt compelled to intervene on behalf of his friend.
"I jumped in and told them there was no reason to be fighting because someone would get hurt and we'd end up going to jail," Grose said.
In the meantime, his friend bolted.
"To make a long story short, I basically told this guy he didn't want to start anything, because I'd end up choking him out," Grose said. "The guy became more positive that he wanted to do something and started taking off his coat and hat."
He came at Grose and was tackled quickly. Good to his word, and always able to handle himself in that type of situation, Grose put the punk in a choke hold.
"I took him down and started choking him out," Grose said. "I told him that I had warned him this would happen. Then I told him that I was going to let him up and I didn't any more trouble."
When Grose asked the guy if he made himself clear, the guy replied, "Whatever, dude."
As soon as Grose let go he was caught flush in the face by a boot of one of the man's friends.
He was kicked several times in the head by the group, who left only when the police arrived.
Grose remembers being asked if he wanted to press charges, being at the hospital and breaking out of restraints once there.
That's about it.
"I remember the docs saying, 'Chris, you're in bad shape, we need to treat you,'" he said.
Then it was lights out. Nearly in a literal sense.
He hovered around death for days.
He had to be put in an induced comma so that shunts could inserted and the fluid on the brain could be drained.
"The Lord works miracles, that's all I can say," said his mother, Cathy, who's been in California since the incident. "The damage to his brain was so bad that it nearly killed him."
"We prayed to God and that was about the only thing that pulled him through," added his sister, Melissa, a teacher in Raleigh County.
Grose is recovering nicely.
And, an optimist, he has found the good in his bad fortune. He's turned the tables on his fate.
"I need to learn that there is no reason for me to be doing that," Grose said. "I've never been close to losing a fight and the anytime someone offered (to fight) I never backed down. It wasn't being very smart."
Grose said he may one day come back to Beckley and open a practice here.
And he can still say he never lost a fair fight.
In fact, he won one that not many gave him a chance to win.
And that's good news.