Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Her voice is strong. Her wit is sharp. Her laugh is pleasant.

Over the telephone, Keiva Rodriguez sounds like any other spirited middle-age woman preparing for a much-anticipated weekend trip. As she talks about her life being turned upside down for most of 2021 – and specifically the past three months – Rodriguez's voice dips into disappointment for a moment.

The change in tone happens when Rodriguez discusses her extended absence from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to watch her son, Gators tight end Kemore Gamble, play his final season.

"I have not been to one game,'' she said.

In Gamble's first four seasons at Florida, Rodriguez attended nearly every game other than for the annual Florida-Georgia clash. Her fear of bridges kept her away from Jacksonville until she finally found the courage in 2020. She left no doubt about her favorite player. All anyone had to do was take a close look at her wardrobe on game day. Gamble and his No. 88 were everywhere: on his mom's shoes, her shirt, her pants, her socks. She even had an umbrella made with Gamble's likeness printed across the canopy.

She had big plans for Big Boy's last days in a Gators uniform.

And then, Rodriguez disappeared from public view.

"It's been tough,'' Gamble said. "This whole year was difficult for me."

Rodriguez's health began to deteriorate the week before Florida's season opener Sept. 4 against Florida Atlantic. On Aug. 26, during one of their daily phone conversations, Rodriguez told Gamble that she was not feeling well. By the next afternoon, Gamble's older sister, Kaneesha Knowles, called in tears to tell him that their mom was unresponsive in bed.

Rodriguez slipped into a coma on Aug. 27 and fought for her life until becoming responsive on Sept. 29, more than a month of peaks and valleys.

"I wind up getting Covid. I was actually getting my vaccine but didn't know I had Covid,'' she said. "I took the vaccine, and I don't know if Covid made the shot take me down. I went on the ventilator and I just wasn't doing well."

"They told Kemore and my other kids that I wasn't going to make it. He was scared."

Rodriguez spent more than 30 days in the intensive-care unit of a Miami hospital. At one point, as doctors tried to bring her off a ventilator, her body began to revolt and she was forced to go back to assisted breathing. When she was finally able to leave the hospital, Rodriguez spent three weeks at a rehabilitation facility. After that stay, 10 more days at another rehab facility that turned up the intensity of her daily therapy.

One of her first memories after waking up is asking the nurse if she could take a shower.

"When I got up, I couldn't walk,'' she said.

During her month in a coma Rodriguez's body had forgotten what it was like to take a step. Rodriguez was confined to a wheelchair in the earliest days of her recovery. She later began to gain independence with the help of a walker. Meanwhile, as his mother fought for her life in a hospital bed while attached to breathing tubes and health monitors, Gamble checked in daily with his family. His sister tried to protect him as much as she could with the day-to-day struggles so he could focus on his senior season.

Rodriguez said then-UF head coach Dan Mullen also called regularly to support the family.

"He really stuck by my side during this tragedy I went through,'' Rodriguez said. "He called my daughter every single day to get an update. I thought I was going to be able to give a last hug to him, but he was so great to me."

Rodriguez said it wasn't until later that she learned how difficult a period it was for her oldest son.

"From my understanding, the doctors did a Zoom for them. They used to either Zoom or FaceTime me. It wasn't a good sight because I was hooked on all different kinds of machines,'' she said. "I felt bad for Kemore. I don't know, because I was getting calls saying he was crying at the first game. He's just used to me being at the game.

"All of my kids, we're all very close. I was so strict on them. I wouldn't let them go to parties. I wouldn't let them go to their friends' house and spend the night. I just always kept it me, my husband and my kids. If they wanted to go out, we would take them out. We just had that bond since they were little."

Gamble kept it together and continued to practice with the team. He made a trip home during the bye week to see his mom.

Entering Saturday's Senior Day game against Florida State, Gamble is third on the team with a career-high 27 receptions for 319 yards and three touchdowns. He had the best game of his career in Florida's 70-52 win against Samford two weeks ago, hauling in six catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

Afterward, for those unfamiliar with Rodriguez's health scare, they got a glimpse at the toll it took on Gamble. His emotions bubbled to the surface at the postgame press conference when he started to talk about his mom being able to watch the game.

"It's been hard trying to ignore it,'' he said.

Quarterback Emory Jones and Mullen both credited Gamble for his resiliency.

"Seeing him come into the building every day and just working his tail off and just seeing it all pay off — especially with everything that he is going through right now, I know it was hard for him — but with him going out there and doing this …  it's definitely exciting for me and him," Jones said. "I'm definitely proud of him."

Jones has company in the Gamble Fan Club (he wears No. 2 this season for those keeping score).

Rodriguez used her son as motivation to recover. Jerome Gamble, Kemore's biological father, suffered a stroke when Kemore was a freshman at UF. He remains physically challenged to this day, and the thought of both of Kemore's parents being restricted pushed her to put in work during physical rehab.

Since being discharged from the second rehabilitation center, Rodriguez goes on regular walks with Kaneesha, a former track standout at Miami Southridge High. That is where Kemore blossomed into a top recruit in the 2017 signing class.

An occupational therapist also visits Rodriguez's home Monday through Friday. She has made tremendous progress.

"I'm actually doing everything on my own now. I don't use a walker at all. I can't go in the kitchen and pick up a pot like I used to,'' she said. "My left hand is very weak. I don't know if the IV damaged my hand or not. They are looking into that. Other than that, I'm normal.

"I'm just thankful that I have life."

On Thursday, Rodriguez planned a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home before she and her husband, Charles Rodriguez, traveled to Gainesville on Friday. She said the plan was to bring Kemore – they call him Big Boy these days because he has muscled up since he has been at UF – a home-cooked meal.

And Saturday, Rodriguez is eager to return to "The Swamp" for the first time since last year.

"It's going to be emotional,'' Kemore said. "I am going to do my thing and show her what she has been missing out on."

His mom can't wait.

Oh, and she he wants to show him a move or two as well.

"I'm very excited, ready to go," she said. "God saved my life. I made it. I was really trying to motivate myself because I knew Kemore had Senior Day coming up. I don't want to be in a wheelchair. I don't want to walk across the field with a walker. But again, if you have to use it, you have to use it.

"I want to walk him like when he came to UF. It's not going to be the same walk, but I'm going to walk him across the field without needing assistance."