The WillPower Story
Sunday, February 3rd, 2019 is a day that our family, friends and our Dripping Springs community will never forget. I had just returned back home to Dripping Springs from laying my mom to rest after a long 8-year battle with cancer. I was excited and relieved at the same time to be back home with my wife, Shara, and the kids. Overall, I was exhausted from the past two weeks of watching my mom slowly pass away, speaking for the family at her funeral and was anxious to return to some form of normalcy. I went straight from my parent’s house to baseball practice where Will and Shara were meeting me. Will at the time was only 7 years old and loved the game of baseball. The game is in his genes. His great grandfather had once played at both UT and Baylor after WWll, his Uncle Jimmy had played some college ball himself and I too grew up on the diamond before deciding to focus strictly on basketball my last 2 years of high school. He is a very focused and fierce competitor and for a kid who was only 7, he showed great signs of a bright future in the sport. We had just entered into the select baseball world and I had been asked to help coach the team. I pitched to all the kids at practice and pitched to Will last that Sunday afternoon. I only threw a few pitches to Will and the last ball I threw to him that day was a line drive to the back net of the cage. I recall thinking to myself, “he’s ready,” and stopped right there. It was time to go be with family and friends for the Super Bowl later that afternoon. Little did I know that our lives were about to change forever.
Moments later, on our way home, Will and I were involved in a near fatal auto accident. My first sight of Will told me that we had lost him. It was a terrifying moment that I’ll live with for the rest of my life. I was able to wedge myself out of the front door of my truck but immediately collapsed to the pavement when my feet hit the ground. I had suffered some serious internal injuries as well and couldn’t get to Will. Seconds later a pedestrian came to help us and that’s when I heard what may be the best sound I’ll ever hear in my life. It was Will crying. It told me that he was alive and that we hadn’t lost our baby boy.
Two days later Will and I were recovering in separate hospitals. I would be in TICU at St. David’s South for 8 days while Will would spend the next 6 weeks at Dell Children’s Hospital. It was there that my dad and Shara would visit me and have to tell me the worst news that I’ll likely ever hear in my life. Will had suffered a spinal cord injury and was currently paralyzed from right below the chest down.
When you receive this kind of news you have two ways to move forward. We as a family quickly decided to embrace this situation, lean on our faith and be thankful. We were thankful for Will’s heartbeat and his life still here on earth. We were thankful for his mind and miraculous healing from a traumatic brain injury. We were thankful for the functionality of his arms. We were thankful for the amazing support that was pouring in from family, the Dripping Springs community and friends from all over the state. We quickly realized just how blessed we were to still be a family of four.
While lying in the hospital recovering the thought crossed my mind that we would need to perhaps move out of the Dripping Springs area. How could we pass that intersection daily and relive that terrifying experience? Then something very powerful began to happen. Our family, friends and community stepped in to lift and carry us during the darkest moment of our lives. A GoFundMe account was created by a friend which would go on to raise funds for Will’s medical care. Various other benefits large and small were quickly planned with all proceeds going to our family for the support of Will. The hashtag #willpower started to spread rapidly through various social media outlets. A WillPower baseball tournament was put together in a matter of days. It started out with just a few rec teams and ended up growing to 60 teams! The support from family, friends and the Dripping Springs community was endless and came in so many ways. It wasn’t just financial support, it was also emotional support through constant prayers, visits, videos and love for Will and our family.
While all this was happening I recall having a conversation with a friend of the family, Erik Whinery. Erik was well aware of the kind of kid Will was and Erik knew how he would react to this traumatic experience. He told me that we needed to share Will’s story and share how this community was rallying around us. What was transpiring in our lives and in the community was truly powerful and I agreed that a story would need to be told. During this time it was affirmed again just how blessed we were. I began to think about the fact that I have a great job with good insurance, we have a great network of family and friends along with a community offering endless love, prayer and support. It made me wonder what do other families in similar situations do that may not have these same blessings. That’s when we decided to take this horrific experience and go help other children like Will and their families. We want to give them the same blessings and support that our family had received. Ultimately, we want to give those families hope, hope that better days are ahead and that healing can occur both emotionally and physically. It was then that we decided to create The WillPower Community Foundation.
We are happy to report that Will is doing extremely well. Wheelchair basketball has provided him an outlet for competition and remaining active. He goes to therapy weekly and the ultimate goal remains to one day stand and walk again. For everyone that knows Will, they know and believe it will happen one day. He’s a kid that has incredible spirit, strength and determination. He’s a kid that has inspired all that know him with the way he’s handled his situation. As he told us recently, “Dad I wouldn’t change anything, this is the path that has been chosen for me”. He’s our hero and so proud of the young man he’s becoming. The future for Will is bright and the progress we’ve all made as a family since this accident would never had been possible without the amazing support from family, friends and our community.
We therefore will spend the rest of our lives looking to help other children like Will who have suffered traumatic spinal cord injuries and look to assist those families both financially and emotionally. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for listening to our story, being a part of this journey with us and your support of The WillPower Community Foundation.
