Over the years, the Phenom Hoop Report has provided a platform for young players to get their name out to college coaches. In addition, we have tried to give attention to human life stories. Stories of faith and inspiration have also been a platform that is dear and important to us. This past weekend, 6’0 junior Weston Edwards of Team Elevate had a compelling story to tell. We have seen Weston on numerous occasions and at our open gym tour last fall, we stated the following, “Edwards is an excellent 3-point shooter with tremendous range. In addition, he is a strong defender and could be the one “glue guy” on this year’s team.”
Again, Weston had a strong performance at the Phenom Hoop State Challenge, but this only begins to tell the story. Like so often, there are always “stories behind the story” and today we want to share his story.
Life Changes in an Instant
April 7th, 2010 is when my life changed in dramatic ways. These changes were good and bad. My eyes were severely opened… When people say you never know if you have tomorrow, believe that, because it is true.
Everything started that morning at 9 A.M. when my best-friend Evan Anderson spent the night with me. We were on spring break, and it started as every other day had. The chef that I am woke up and began to make us eggs. As the eggs were cooking, a family friend named Jill came over to spend the day with my mom. The eggs finally finished, and as we were eating we sat down to watch the television. There was a television show that came on about ghosts, and my friend and I were fascinated, but sadly Jill told us to “turn that mess off, we do not believe in ghosts.” I gave a quick reply and proclaimed that the only ghost I believe in is the Holy Ghost. As a firm believer in Jesus Christ, I strongly believe that, my reply helped get me through what was about to occur.
The night before we had made plans to go to my friend Kyle Graham’s house, and that was the place where all the fun would happen. Again, we were on spring break, so that is exactly all we wanted to do. We arrived at Kyle’s house around 10:20 A.M. and it did not take us long to figure out the plans for that day. We quickly hurried down to his garage and began to fix up his red, two-seater go-kart. Kyle automatically got to ride first because it was his go-kart, but I am sure Evan and I played rock paper scissors for it or something. Of course I won, and I persuaded Kyle to let me drive it. He finally agreed and slid over to the passenger seat.
As the garage doors opened to take the go-kart out, I was about to face and knock on deaths’ door. I began to drive up the drive way as my best-friend Evan was waiting on the side of the road with the helmet, and was watching everything unfold as he said was “in slow motion.” As the motor was roaring behind my head, he shouted and screamed and got my attention and gave me his helmet to put on. As I put it on my head, I told him I loved him and that was my last words to him for about 14 days. The go-kart approached the road, as our destination was on the other side of it. As soon as it touched the asphalt the go-kart stalled and rolled into the middle of the road.
In confusion and nervousness I looked at Kyle and asked him what in the world was wrong. He looked and me with a smile and said “I got this man.” Kyle then hurried out of the go-kart and made his way to the back where the engine was. Then … I hear Evan scream “Weston WATCH OUT!” The next thing I know I look to my left and see a van colliding with my side of the go-kart. Kyle was flung to the side of the road and I was drug under the 3,000-pound vehicle. This is where I lose all memory of the whole day. So the next best story was Evan’s account.
From there I am told that the car ran over me and the go-kart was then bent and dismantled. He said the sound was like a shotgun going off and sent all the neighbors out fleeing to the road to our aid. Evan immediately called 911, as did other by standers. So many things were in place that saved my life that morning. Evan then got on his bike and peddled as fast as he could to my house, to beat on my door and proclaim to my mom that I have been seriously injured. (The sad thing is, we did this as a joke to my mom all the time) She laughed and replied shut up this is another joke, as tears ran down my best-friends face she knew he was serious. She then heard ambulances and scurried to get her things, and by the time she drove to me the EMT’s were already working on me. Luckily, our family knew the firefighters there; they proceeded to comfort my mom. (Evan’s dad was a firefighter that was there too) They began to work on me immediately, and call in a helicopter to airlift me. At this moment, my mom knew it was not good.
On the scene, the EMT’s proceeded to induce me into a coma. They said I was fighting them, and I wouldn’t let them touch me. This is a sign of serious head trauma said the head EMT. On the other hand, my friend Kyle was unconscious and very bloody; he was lying on the corner of the road. It was recorded that he looked ten times worse than I did; amazingly I only had blood coming from the left side of my skull. They then placed me into the ambulance and drove me to Fire Station Number 1 in Kannapolis. From there, I was airlifted to Levine’s Children’s Hospital. My mom pleaded to ride in the ambulance with me, but the EMT’s told her to go home and pack a bag for the hospital. My mom sped there, and called my father and told him of the accident. My dad said he was going 105 miles per hour down the interstate, and got there in approximately five minutes from his job in Concord. As he scurried in the hospital, the medical team was pushing me through the double doors into the examination room. He followed my bed all the way into a room where the doctors shut the doors and would not let him in. He grabbed a doctor by the arm and said “That’s my son, is he alive, is he brain-dead or what'” She replied back that she could not tell any of that information and that the doctor would be out shortly…
From there my father walked outside and began to pray as hard as could, along with all my other family members. Three hours into planning and keeping me alive the doctor finally came out to talk; he quickly told my parents that he had two minutes to describe what he was going to do with my situation. He made my mother sign paper work, and told them all of my injuries. The surgeon then proceeded to say that I was about to undergo nine to ten hours of surgery. My family pleaded to see me before I went in, and he said they could see me as I rolled back into surgery. They then pushed me through, and everyone leaned over and gave me a kiss. They all told me they loved me, and off I went.
My family prayed and waited, prayed and waited, as there was an outpouring of visitors. This went on for nine hours. Finally, the doctors came out to talk to my family for good. The news that they shared will give you goose bumps. The doctors said that it looked like I had been decapitated, and cut right in half. They said that the whole left side of my body had been crushed. Finally they broke the news, and that was that with my injuries I should have been dead in two minutes from internal bleeding. The head surgeon said that during the accident the artery that connects my heart to my kidney had ripped, causing me to bleed to death. But he shared that the artery found its way back to my heart and logged itself in the gaping hole. Which then, gave me enough time to make it to the hospital and into surgery. The surgeons looked my family square in the face and proclaimed, “It had to be God that did this, because your son should have been dead in two minutes.” They also shared that this had never happen before, and this was the first case like this.
After surgery they took me into ICU (Intensive Care Unit) for seven days. I was entering ICU with a shattered right arm, snapped femur, a shattered pelvis, all of my ribs broken, a collapsed lung, a repaired spleen, biggest muscle in my back cut in half, bleeding on the brain, a removed left kidney, and permanent short term memory loss. From this point on, it was a roller coaster experience. One day I would do fantastic, the other day it would look like I was going to die. Finally the seven days were up and it was time to take me out of the coma. They did this, and told my parents it would only take a couple of hours for me to wake up. Hours went by and I was still asleep. My mother said that as a parent it was the hardest thing she had ever done. She said it really tested her faith in God, and made her a stronger woman in her faith. It had been a whole day, and I had not awakened yet. Eventually, I woke up, and the first thing I said was that I wanted some sweet tea.
From here on out, it was still rough trying to keep my heart rate up and levels where they needed to be. It fluctuated by night, and they had a hard time staying up. But a few days passed and they were pretty close to where they needed to be. Then all the fun began, and that was introducing me to rehab. Rehab taught me how to read, walk, and eat again. After having a horrible accident, rehab was one of the toughest things I had to overcome. But throughout it all, I kept my head up and had a positive attitude. The nurses told my parents, they had never seen anything like this. They even asked me if I would go into other patient’s rooms, and encourage and uplift them. That was a big honor given to me, especially after all I had just been through. Fifteen days in, I told my nurses that I was leaving in two days. They laughed it off and played like that was actually going to happen, but with hard work and dedication, I made that statement possible.
Finally, I got to leave and return home. After seventeen long days with terrible food and a lot of wires, I was free. The doctors told me it would take me at least six months to walk, and a full year to at least run again. That being said, I was walking in three and jogging at seven months. I had a million check ups and doctors appointments. The doctor appointment that got me the most was the one with my kidney specialist. He was the one to break to me the news I would never play my favorite sport again… Football. I cried like a baby, at twelve years old that was my passion. My dreams of being an NFL quarterback were ruined.
The next year was a tough one, especially with school. I had to be home schooled, meaning my sixth grade teacher had to come to my house and teach me. This continued throughout my whole sixth grade year. I went to school for a few days at the end of the year for a pep rally we were having. As my family walked and I hobbled into the gymnasium, they had a big banner that said Welcome Back, Weston! Following that, my whole grade wrote me a song and sang it to me, and then honored my family and I with an award and an envelope. In the envelope it was money that the school had raised for me. This had to be one of the most touching moments of my life, having a terrible accident happen and come back to school and everyone accept me and love me for who I was.
Throughout this period in my life, I have been blessed in amazing ways. From great friends, to people supporting me, and having a great Christian family base. Even now as I sit at home with remaining scars, short-term memory loss, and 500,000 plus dollars in medical bills, I still am thankful for what God has given me the strength to do. I am thankful for all the people that raised money for my family and me. Now I am always told God has a big plan for my life, I guess the only thing left is to go figure out what that is. I can’t explain how grateful I am for everyone that’s helped me through this process. I am a Miracle!
My parents and I felt that I should attend a local Christian school with smaller class sizes and a Christian environment. I then started at Concord First Assembly my sophomore year, and I tried out for the basketball team. I ended up being the only sophomore on the team, and we ended up winning our state championship. This year, as a junior, I started at shooting guard and averaged 11 points, 3.5 assists, and 3 rebounds per game. Unfortunately, we got upset in the state tournament this year, but we’re already looking forward to next year. I also just started playing AAU, and in three games I have averaged 16 points, with an average of 5 three pointers. Hard work is something that I have learned from my accident, and I can now see the results on the court. I am training 6 days a week with my trainer, in the gym and weight room.