Reserve law enforcement officer honored

By: JO MORELAND - Staff Writer | Tuesday, October 10, 2006 12:38 AM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- Stricken with Crohn's disease, Eric Hayes of Carlsbad had a bleak future at the age of 27.

The chronic, debilitating inflammatory bowel disease can be treated, but there is no cure.

Hayes overcame the illness and repeated surgeries, as well as the stigma then associated with the disease, to become a San Diego County reserve sheriff's deputy for 12 years.

On Monday night, he was to receive the West Region award in San Diego for the 2006 Great Comebacks Program for getting on with his life and sharing his story with others.

"Eric's unique," Rolf Benirschke, former San Diego Charger place-kicker, said by phone Monday afternoon. "Once he's set his mind to it, I don't think there's anything he can't overcome."

Benirschke, an ulcerative colitis patient, started Great Comebacks in 1984 to recognize and to offer hope to people living with inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer or an ostomy.

An ostomy is the surgical procedure required for diseased or damaged digestive systems. Part of the small or large intestine is brought through the skin so body waste can be discharged.

It was also in 1984 that Hayes, now 47 and a reserve commander for the Carlsbad Police Department, developed Crohn's disease. At the time, he was an Orange County sheriff's deputy.

"I was getting sick all the time, but we never knew what was wrong," Hayes said Monday. "I quit. I couldn't perform the job anymore."

Discussions with doctors and the Orange County Sheriff's Department led the U.S. Air Force veteran to believe there was no hope for his return to law enforcement, he said.

Three years after the original diagnosis, Hayes lost more than 60 pounds in less than two months. He hit 135 pounds and had an emergency ileostomy.

"When I woke up in that hospital, I was so sick I thought I was done," Hayes said.

His brother, Edward Hayes, sought out Benirschke. Benirschke's bedside chat, Hayes said, led him to view his surgery as a second chance.

In a pioneering effort, Hayes met all the requirements to become a reserve deputy in 1994 for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. They are the same as those of a regular deputy, said sheriff's Sgt. Jim Piscitelli, sheriff's reserve coordinator.

Hayes, described by Piscitelli as a professional, outgoing and personable man who is always willing to help, started his career as a reserve deputy at the Encinitas Sheriff's Station.

Later he worked off-road enforcement on the sheriff's motorcycle team for years before retiring in January as a reserve lieutenant at the Imperial Beach Sheriff's Station.

Since that first surgery, Hayes has married his childhood sweetheart, Terry. They have four children.

Hayes, who is also vice president for a security technology company based in Houston, scuba dives, skis, surfs and plays competitive tennis --- activities he never thought possible immediately after his first surgery.

Although he's in relapse, he wants to play tennis at the 2007 World Police and Fire Olympics in Adelaide, Australia.

"I think I set the stage," Hayes said. "I'm using that now to help spread the word."

-- Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.