In this week's edition of This Hits Different, Shelby Cassesse tells the Fan Morning Show about Eli Wilson, a football player at Bishop Canevin High School, who overcame a tragedy early in his life and went from a wheelchair to the football field.
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This Hits Different Episode 9: Bishop Canevin senior crafting amazing journey
Watching Bishop Canevin senior Eli Wilson fly around the football field, fearlessly laying hits on opponents, you'd never know the mental and physical battle engrained his first 17 years.
And up until now, Eli preferred it that way.
“You never knows what someone’s going through,” said Wilson. “You never know if my story can change someone’s life.”
So, about two months ago, Eli decided he wanted to tell his story. It starts with a trip to the lake, when Eli was just 3 years old.
He, his aunt and his sister were sitting near the water.
“And then the current pulled us in,” he said. “Me and my sister started drowning.”
Eli's sister was able to grab onto a rope, get out and run for help. Moments of panic followed, as Eli's family searched for him and his aunt in the water.
They pulled his aunt, 48-year-old Gladys Mendoza, from the water first.
A newspaper article detailing the 2006 incident credits Mendoza with trying to save her nephew, but the current was too powerful.
Mendoza didn't survive.
And, after she was pulled from the water, there was still no sign of Eli.
“They couldn’t find me for 20 minutes,” he said.
Eli was eventually rescued and rushed to the hospital to fight for his life. He survived, but faced a long, difficult battle that would be daunting for any adult, let alone a three year old.
With the constant support of his family, Eli essentially started over.
“I just had to work hard to try to get back to walk, talk, eat,” Wilson said. “My mom fed me, my dad fed me, my sister fed. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t walk.”
It was during that arduous process, before he could even walk again, that Eli fell in love with football.
“I was in a wheelchair when my dad was coaching football,” he said. “Every time I had a football in my hand.”
As the years passed, Eli got stronger and eventually joined a football team of his own. He credits hard work and his family for where he's at today, playing football for the Crusaders with plans to go off to college next year. He plays mainly on special teams, but head coach Rich Johnson says Eli packs a powerful punch.
“That’s his thing man, he likes to hit people,” Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘you couldn’t walk, but you want to run around and hit people?’ And he’s like, ‘yeah.’ So I’m like, ‘alright, let’s go.’”
But his impact reaches well past the football field.
“He inspires a lot of kids to work harder and overcome some of the things they’re overcoming,” Johnson added. “There’s a lot for these young kids these days, but he definitely inspires a lot of kids.”
And while Eli looks forward to the next open field hit and beyond, how far he's come is never a far thought.
“It’s been a long journey,” Wilson said. “I didn’t know I’d be here to this day. And I thank God for letting me walk and do what I do.”