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Parker Byrd's journey from star high school shortstop to amputee baseball player at East Carolina University defies all conventional expectations. After committing to ECU as a freshman, his life took a devastating turn during a summer boating trip with teammates before his first college season. Caught beneath a boat's propeller, Parker suffered catastrophic injuries requiring 22 surgeries in 56 days and ultimately, the amputation of his right leg below the knee.
Most would assume a Division I baseball career was no longer possible. But when Parker expressed this fear to his mother in the hospital, her response changed everything: "There always has to be a first, why not you?" Those words sparked a transformation in Parker's mindset that fueled an extraordinary comeback.
The rehabilitation process revealed Parker's remarkable determination. Starting in a wheelchair doing visualization exercises, he progressed to performing one-handed drills while seated on a shower stool, then working with crutches, before finally receiving a proper running prosthetic with a split-foot design. With his hitting coach, Parker redeveloped his swing mechanics, discovering that a "scissor motion" technique could generate power without his natural ankle push-off.
What makes this story particularly powerful is the unwavering support from ECU head coach Cliff Godwin, who was the first person at the hospital after Parker's accident. In an era where the transfer portal offers easy replacements for injured players, Godwin's commitment to Parker transcended baseball. This loyalty, combined with Parker's faith and family support, created the foundation for his return to competitive play.
Parker made his collegiate debut on February 16, 2024, receiving a thunderous ovation from Pirate Nation that he describes as "louder than I've ever heard." Beyond the baseball achievement, Parker has embraced a greater purpose in inspiring others facing seemingly impossible challenges. His message is profoundly simple yet powerful: "Embrace adversity, love your neighbor, and trust in God's plan because He's going to lead you to something better."
Listen now to this extraordinary conversation about resilience, faith, and redefining what's possible when determination meets unwavering support. Parker Bird isn't just playing baseball with a prosthetic leg—he's showing us all how to transform life's greatest challenges into our most powerful purpose.
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Transcript
WEBVTT
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Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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Imagine what it takes to make an elite Division I baseball program as a freshman Transfer portal.
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Average age of player is nearly 21 years old and the coach is expecting production the minute you step on campus.
00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:24.411
Now imagine trying to play with your right leg amputated below your knee.
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Trying to play with your right leg amputated below your knee.
00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:34.515
East Carolina University infielder Parker Bird suffered a near-fatal accident while boating with teammates the summer before his freshman season.
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After 20-plus surgeries, parker did what most would think is impossible, thanks to his family, coach Cliff Godwin and teammates.
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Thanks to his family, coach Cliff Godwin and teammates the power of belief and the incredible determination.
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Next on Baseball Coaches.
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Unplugged.
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Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter, presented by AthleteOne.
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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches With 27 years of high school baseball coaching under his belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball, from game-winning strategies and pitching secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills.
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We're covering it all.
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Whether you're a high school coach, college coach or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field.
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Discover how to build a winning mentality, inspire your players and get them truly bought.
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We'll be right back your competitive edge starts here, so check out the show weekly and hear from the best coaches in the game.
00:01:51.524 --> 00:01:52.605
On Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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Today's episode of Baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the netting professionals improving programs one facility at a time.
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The netting professionals continue to provide quality products and services to recreational, high school, college and professional fields and facilities throughout the country.
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That's 844-620-2707 or info at nettingproscom.
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You can visit them at wwwnettingproscom or check them out at Netting Pros on X, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects.
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I have a simple ask here.
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If you enjoyed today's show, please be sure and share it with a friend, and don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
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It helps us to grow the show.
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Now to my episode with East Carolina University infielder Parker Bird.
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Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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I'm your host, coach Ken Carpenter, and I'm excited to have jumping on the show with me today.
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Parker Bird, east Carolina University, infielder Parker, thanks for taking the time to join me on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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It's an honor, man.
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I appreciate you having me on here.
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For those people out there that don't know your story, which I'm sure just about everybody should you were in a serious boating accident and had to have your leg amputated accident and had to have your leg amputated.
00:04:06.629 --> 00:04:16.831
But what I wanted to start off with was February 16th 2024.
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I'm sure that day is pretty special.
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Tell me about that day.
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Yeah, it was a cool day, for sure.
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Yeah, so that was last year of the.
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We were playing a rider Friday night, obviously, and that was my first collegiate game back from my accident and coach Godwin told me whenever we were like stretching, hey, we had comfortable leads, hey, be ready to go in.
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So I was like all right, sounds good.
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Well, we scored, like ready to go in.
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So I was like all right, sounds good.
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Well, we scored like seven runs in the first inning.
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I was like, oh, today's the day, god's letting it happen.
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Quick.
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Well, offense kind of spelled out for a couple of innings and then they scored a little bit.
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So it was like a 7-4 game or 7-3, something crazy.
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But then we just started scoring again and then I got in the bat and it was really cool.
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I mean, you got the stabilization, but just a lot of hard work, that's you know, went into that.
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Getting back into uh this I can imagine, you know it it's.
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It's crazy enough to get your first AB at the Division I level but you know, walking up there with everything that you've been through and you know a stadium and everybody there just going crazy for you, I bet you the emotions were just going 100 miles an hour and I can't even imagine it.
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Yeah, it was a really cool time because Pirate Nation here in Great World they're very passionate about their sports, especially baseball, so I mean they're loud in general, but that day was even more loud than I've ever heard.
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It wasn't even packed out like it typically is.
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It was kind of a colder Friday night.
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We were winning big, so a lot of people had already left, but the place got louder than I've heard.
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Honestly, it was really emotional.
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But you know my competitive nature.
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I had to walk back into the game and obviously try and get a hit, so I just took a moment in and just took a deep breath and got back into the box.
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Well, coming out of high school you were one of the top players in the state of North Carolina and you know from my research it was like you were automatic.
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As soon as you got offered to go to ECU, you were like that's where I'm going, yeah, but if you don't mind, could you take me back to the day of the boating accident and how that all went?
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down, yeah, yeah.
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So I committed to East Carolina my ninth grade year.
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Both of my parents went to ECU.
00:07:01.908 --> 00:07:08.471
So I grew up being a Pirate fan and I was going through the recruiting process pretty early.
00:07:08.471 --> 00:07:17.709
I think I went to some camps going into my ninth grade year summer so around August or so and I went to three camps.
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First weekend I went to Duke.
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I had a great time, loved everything there.
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It was a really cool camp.
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Then the second one, I went to East Carolina and I was kind of already biased because of my parents and growing up being a Pirate fan, but I was.
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You know the recruiting process, you have to have an open mind about everything.
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So I came to camp here and you know everything I ever thought it was going to be.
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That's what it was and I loved it, loved the coaching staff, loved the field.
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I already knew the fans were phenomenal, so I really loved everything about it.
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And the third weekend I went with Coach Carolina and after that camp that was the first time I talked to Coach Collin and Coach Blumbo.
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Then we kept in contact and Coach Blumbo and coach g both kind of followed me throughout travel ball the next couple months and they offered me in november and I committed around spike.
00:08:13.252 --> 00:08:18.790
That's where I wanted to go, um, and then end up having a pretty successful high school career.
00:08:19.312 --> 00:08:40.394
Um, then I had to come to east carolina in 2022 for summer school after I graduated high school, and it was just all the incoming freshmen and a couple of transfers and basically they bring us here in the summertime just to get activated to, you know, a new environment, how college is, finally getting away from your parents for the first time.
00:08:40.394 --> 00:08:49.244
So it was just me and my new incoming teammates and we're having a great time.
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We, you know, started in probably mid-june and was planning to leave late july and we were here for probably four weeks already and we got a new recruit and he was like hey, he told us his name.
00:09:01.432 --> 00:09:06.652
He's like hey, my family has a river house probably 30 minutes from here.
00:09:06.652 --> 00:09:08.126
We should all go down sometime.
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Then, you know, just have a good time.
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And Greenville is a great town but it's pretty boring in the summertime because it's such a college town.
00:09:16.472 --> 00:09:19.268
So we're like all right, sounds good.
00:09:19.268 --> 00:09:27.634
And the fact that he was just a late recruit was kind of weird in itself because a lot of people had committed pretty early on like myself.
00:09:27.634 --> 00:09:32.812
So he came in, told us that, well, all right, sounds good, we'll go sometime.
00:09:32.812 --> 00:09:38.666
And so it was last week in the summer that we were here, that everybody was still here.
00:09:38.666 --> 00:09:45.529
He kept on asking all right, sounds good, man, we'll go down, he's had such a great time and we'll go have fun.
00:09:46.522 --> 00:09:56.927
Friday, after our more than 300 of our workouts and all that good stuff, we went down to back North Carolina where the Riverhouse was, and honestly, everything was great.
00:09:56.927 --> 00:10:02.500
It lived up to the potential and the hype that the guy was talking about and we had a great time.
00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:07.149
Well, that Saturday morning I was supposed to take one of the guys.
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His name is Miles Curley.
00:10:07.876 --> 00:10:13.527
So I was supposed to take Miles back to a home in Greenville because he was supposed to help an heirloom move some furniture.
00:10:13.527 --> 00:10:19.264
Well, he got a call that morning saying hey, miles, thanks for volunteering, but we don't really need your help anymore.
00:10:19.264 --> 00:10:21.903
And so us.
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You know, just being 18-year-old at the time, I had to have fun again.
00:10:25.052 --> 00:10:27.267
So we went out.
00:10:27.880 --> 00:10:34.229
We met a guy named Diggs on the tube first that day and the first ride in Austin was really, really good.
00:10:34.229 --> 00:10:38.645
We were on for probably about 20, 25 minutes and we got back going.
00:10:38.645 --> 00:10:42.169
The driver was like, hey, I'm going to try to throw you guys off a little bit quicker this time.
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You guys are all for a good ball.
00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:44.903
So I'm going to throw you guys off a little bit quicker this time.
00:10:44.903 --> 00:10:47.024
You guys are all for a good ball, so I'm going to go a little bit crazier.
00:10:47.024 --> 00:10:47.785
All right, sounds good.
00:10:47.785 --> 00:10:49.567
Well, you know, I'm going to go a little bit crazier than we thought.
00:10:49.586 --> 00:10:54.513
Diggs ended up falling off the tube pretty quickly and I followed shortly after him.
00:10:54.513 --> 00:10:58.076
We both hit the water pretty hard so I had to get back to the boat.
00:10:58.076 --> 00:11:00.100
Got it done for right.
00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:02.063
Now We'll let somebody else go go and we're just gonna hang out.
00:11:02.063 --> 00:11:22.251
So we're swimming back to the boat and I was far ahead of from where we had landed, uh, with the boat, and as I got within 10 to 15 yards, I was using the rope from the tube to help get myself back in, and in the meantime the driver put the boat in reverse, or got knocked into reverse somehow, which eventually led to me being stuck under the boat.
00:11:22.251 --> 00:11:27.371
The propeller hit both of my legs and then I pushed off to my left hand, which was also hit.
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And then, from there.
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Miles Curley, the guy I was supposed to take back to be home with Greenville, jumped in immediately because he was from Florida and had a friend die in a boating accident.
00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:42.600
So he knew that getting me help was really urgent.
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So he jumped in Him and Dixon helped guide myself back on the boat From there.
00:11:47.962 --> 00:11:52.664
They were trying to turn it, get through it the best they could with these shirts that they had.
00:11:53.666 --> 00:12:00.870
In the meantime they were also waving down on the boats because our boat wasn't able to move due to the rope being caught in the propeller.
00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:02.309
They waved down on the boat.
00:12:02.309 --> 00:12:13.635
The first boat stopped and they addressed the situation to him, told him they needed help, and the boat basically said sorry, we can't really help, but we have kids on the boat.
00:12:13.635 --> 00:12:23.888
We don't really want to expose them to the scene, but here's a first aid kit and my friends were like his legs were torn from a Band-Aid at this point.
00:12:23.888 --> 00:12:28.566
So the guys threw, threw the picket and then continued to wave down to the boats and the second boat stopped.
00:12:28.566 --> 00:12:31.549
They addressed the situation to them and they agreed to help.
00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:40.469
So they transferred me over to that boat and on that boat one of the ladies was actually a nurse, so she knew even more what to do.
00:12:40.469 --> 00:12:45.027
And the only reason they were going back in that day was because it was two couples on the boat.
00:12:45.027 --> 00:12:51.630
One of them had got into an argument and they're like hey, can you just take me back, we're done for the day, we want to go home.
00:12:51.630 --> 00:12:52.884
So they're on the way back.
00:12:52.884 --> 00:13:10.293
They saw us and they stopped and then so they transported me over to that boat and then they took me to the marina where there was an ambulance waiting on me which took me to a local hospital where I had a helicopter waiting on me to airlift me to Eastview Health here in Greenville.
00:13:10.293 --> 00:13:17.533
I stayed there for a total of four weeks and then I had a total of 22 surgeries in 56 days.
00:13:17.533 --> 00:13:19.105
So it was a lot.
00:13:20.148 --> 00:13:30.073
Wow, that's an amazing story and you know, it's kind of crazy that you said that the first boat didn't want to help.
00:13:30.073 --> 00:13:38.549
You know, right, right, and luckily the next boat is someone with a nurse and you know, it's amazing how those things come together.
00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:43.568
Yeah, no coincidence, man, everything was working out for God's plan.
00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:46.779
He just had his hand on everything.
00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:48.423
And it's just crazy.
00:13:48.423 --> 00:13:59.471
I mean, if that person tried to help, maybe I wouldn't even be here, because a lady tied her circuit all the way, because she knew how to, you know, tie it with a rope.
00:13:59.471 --> 00:14:05.046
Um, I maybe not even got to the marina where the ambulance was waiting, you never know.
00:14:05.046 --> 00:14:12.115
So it's really cool because you know, in the meantime it's easy for human nature to get mad at something that doesn't get your way.
00:14:12.115 --> 00:14:19.931
You know, not just accident, but that's just life.
00:14:19.951 --> 00:14:28.798
You know, like, for instance, the other day I got my first collegiate RBI and my dad wasn't at the game the away game midweek and he has to work so he wasn't there that day.
00:14:28.798 --> 00:14:33.812
My first collegiate RBI and I was, I honestly got my first hit.
00:14:33.812 --> 00:14:37.832
It was honestly a middle, middle basketball, competitive nature.
00:14:37.832 --> 00:14:43.594
I just I had a stack fly but I was like, dang, I should get that ball 400 feet.
00:14:43.594 --> 00:14:48.929
But then Friday that was on Wednesday, friday I got my first collegiate hit and my dad was there.
00:14:48.929 --> 00:14:51.035
So you know, in the meantime I was eating this thing.
00:14:51.035 --> 00:14:54.846
Dang, I should have hit that ball, hit that ball that he's working out for the better.
00:14:55.346 --> 00:14:56.207
Yes, definitely.
00:14:56.207 --> 00:15:10.756
Well, when they made the decision at the hospital to amputate your leg below the knee, what led them to that decision?
00:15:10.756 --> 00:15:13.538
I mean, was it like we got to do this now?
00:15:14.058 --> 00:15:32.855
Right, yeah, so my accident happened on July 23rd of 2022, and I had my amputation on August 4th and, honestly, the whole hospital said it's kind of a roller coaster for me and my whole entire family because we got there and they stopped the bleeding in my first surgery.
00:15:32.855 --> 00:15:36.414
They didn't really know what to tell my parents.
00:15:36.414 --> 00:15:41.751
They're like, hey, we don't really know, we just know that your son's alive and the bleeding's not.
00:15:41.751 --> 00:15:50.013
A couple surgeries later, they didn't know where the static nerve was and they filmed that Everything's looking like it's going well.
00:15:50.013 --> 00:16:08.393
The doctors tell my parents hey, we think that he's going to be able to keep both of his legs, everything's going like we hoped it to and it looks like he will get back to playing baseball with some extensive rehab.
00:16:08.413 --> 00:16:14.816
Well, I think probably around surgery eight or nine, they realized that blood was going down to my foot but it wasn't returning back up.
00:16:14.816 --> 00:16:18.450
And that was just the initial shock of the body.
00:16:18.450 --> 00:16:21.272
I was already clamping up and all that good stuff.
00:16:21.272 --> 00:16:27.573
Well, it was going down to my foot but it wasn't returning back up, so basically, it was dying slowly.
00:16:27.573 --> 00:16:43.388
I just came into my room the morning of August 4th so I was like hey, barker, you have two options we can continue this medicine that we're having on now, which isn't really working, and infection can spread to your kidneys and lungs and basically you'll end up dying, is what they said.
00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:47.187
Or option B we can just amputate your right lower extremity.
00:16:47.187 --> 00:16:51.433
And I was like, well, this is bigger than just a leg man, this is not life.
00:16:51.433 --> 00:16:55.005
So I obviously chose option B and amputated him.
00:16:55.005 --> 00:16:56.750
But you know, obviously he chose option B and imitated him.
00:16:56.750 --> 00:16:59.620
But you know, I just realized that life's bigger than baseball.
00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:08.734
At that point it's more about life and obviously baseball is on your brain, but essentially, you know, the life's bigger than just baseball.
00:17:08.734 --> 00:17:09.596
It's just more than that.
00:17:11.146 --> 00:17:23.378
Well, this is where you had a conversation where you know you're like anybody in that situation is probably thinking baseball, of all things, it's over.
00:17:23.378 --> 00:17:27.955
But you kind of went into the why not me?
00:17:27.955 --> 00:17:30.839
Why can't I see if I can overcome this right?
00:17:31.342 --> 00:17:31.785
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:31.785 --> 00:17:34.653
So my mom in the hospital.
00:17:34.653 --> 00:17:37.248
I was staying, it's like due to the hospital.
00:17:37.248 --> 00:17:40.153
At that time COVID was still kind of in effect.
00:17:40.153 --> 00:17:48.691
I was in the ICU and only one person at a time could be in my room, two people per day.
00:17:48.691 --> 00:17:51.354
So my mom and dad were switching on and off.
00:17:51.704 --> 00:17:55.236
As much as I love both of them, I kind of got tired of seeing them.
00:17:55.236 --> 00:17:59.614
I was wanting to see my sisters and all my friends and all that good stuff.
00:17:59.614 --> 00:18:09.108
My mom was saying we'd be in the hospital Maybe the day after my invitation, maybe two days around that time period.
00:18:09.108 --> 00:18:12.538
She could tell I was kind of down.
00:18:12.538 --> 00:18:15.232
She was like Parker, why are you down?
00:18:15.232 --> 00:18:20.555
I was like well, mom, I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't think I'll be able to play baseball again.
00:18:20.555 --> 00:18:22.507
And she's like well, why do you say that?
00:18:22.507 --> 00:18:27.506
And I was like there's never been a player that ever played a prosthetic leg in college.
00:18:27.506 --> 00:18:32.173
And she was like well, there always has to be a first, why not you?
00:18:32.173 --> 00:18:38.328
And that's where things kind of just flipped in my brain to where I was like you know what?
00:18:38.348 --> 00:18:51.050
that's going to be a first for everything, and now I have the privilege to, you know, set the standard for other kids out there with prostate legs and showing them that you know you can do it.
00:18:51.050 --> 00:18:52.892
There's still hope out there.
00:18:52.892 --> 00:18:57.594
Even though adversity hits your life, you don't look the same as everybody else.
00:18:57.594 --> 00:19:04.009
It doesn't matter, because you will, especially if you work hard and there's some God in you that will do what's possible.
00:19:04.612 --> 00:19:27.357
Yes, and you know, as a parent, my son was born with severe club feet and the doctors told us early on they said baseball or any sports probably not going to happen, right, and we just attacked it like anything's possible.
00:19:27.357 --> 00:19:30.443
And you know attitude's everything.
00:19:30.443 --> 00:19:39.442
And even as a young kid he really changed his approach to everything and ended up getting a chance to play high school and college baseball.
00:19:39.442 --> 00:19:40.404
That's awesome.
00:19:40.404 --> 00:19:46.397
But you know, in your situation everybody thinks baseball is over.
00:19:46.397 --> 00:19:58.317
But you know you guys had a different mindset and you know it leads to you playing for Coach Godwin at East Carolina there.
00:19:58.317 --> 00:20:05.999
And the reality with college baseball these guys are coaching for their life.
00:20:05.999 --> 00:20:09.972
It's their job, it's not like a high school coach.
00:20:09.972 --> 00:20:23.844
And talk about Coach Godwin and, if you could, a little bit about the coaching staff and the team, how they responded to your situation.
00:20:24.263 --> 00:20:36.094
Yeah, yeah, and I'm so blessed to be here at East Carolina because of the coaching staff and honestly, that's why everybody commits here.
00:20:36.094 --> 00:20:41.615
Really it's because Coach Godwin, coach coach blumbo, aka our pitching coach, everybody's going to push you to.
00:20:41.615 --> 00:20:48.267
You know your limit to get the best out of you, you know, but with also that they, they trust in you too and they believe in you.
00:20:48.267 --> 00:20:54.205
Um, and you know, after my accident the first person at the hospital was coach gollum.
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I mean, he was all of our recruit, was on a visit, he was with them.
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My dad called him because my parents were back home in Warrenburg, where I'm from, and that's like two and a half hours away from Greenville.
00:21:07.394 --> 00:21:16.153
So they got in a call that basically said hey, you need to get to Greenville fast, parker's been in a boating accident and he's dying.
00:21:16.153 --> 00:21:17.978
That's basically what they got.
00:21:17.978 --> 00:21:27.675
And so my dad wanted somebody to be at the hospital when I got there, even though I wouldn't see him, he just wanted, you know, that validation.
00:21:27.675 --> 00:21:39.094
So he called Coach Collin Coach Collin, let it ring out the first time because he's a recruit or a visit with a recruit, and my dad keeps calling him and finally, he's like a recruit or a visit with a recruit and my dad keeps calling him and finally he's like coach gollins.
00:21:39.094 --> 00:21:42.422
I held up one second, uh, and answered phone to my dad.
00:21:42.422 --> 00:21:49.096
My dad said, hey, coach gollin, um, I'm sorry to bother you, but parker's been in a boating accident.
00:21:49.096 --> 00:21:53.451
And, uh, we really could you go to the hospital?
00:21:53.451 --> 00:21:56.037
And coach gollin immediately said, yes, I'll be there.
00:21:56.037 --> 00:22:01.373
So he told the recruit hey, I I'm so sorry, but one of our players has been in a boating accident.
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I need to go to the hospital.
00:22:02.817 --> 00:22:16.013
So he went to the hospital, was the very first person there at the hospital and it just really showed us how caring he is, how much of a great person he is.
00:22:16.013 --> 00:22:20.797
He's honestly changed so much over the past three, four years.
00:22:21.384 --> 00:22:30.335
The year before I got here, a guy named Zach Agnos' dad passed away and Nico was a great human being.
00:22:30.335 --> 00:22:37.153
He was a phenomenal guy, a huge part of the ECU community, and he passed away unexpectedly due to COVID.
00:22:37.153 --> 00:22:39.854
That year really changed Coach Carver.
00:22:39.854 --> 00:22:42.689
Then next year an accident happened.
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He just realized how fast life can change.
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He got right with his place and became such a better person.
00:22:50.729 --> 00:22:54.394
Because of my accident, because of Nico's passing.
00:22:54.394 --> 00:22:59.096
It's been really cool to see him walk his faith.
00:22:59.096 --> 00:23:11.864
But you know, just for him allowing me to have the opportunity, a lot of people in college baseball, especially in today's world, would just, you know, give up on a guy, go to a transfer portal and try to get some other shortstop.
00:23:11.864 --> 00:23:19.239
But Coach Collin, coach Barbaugh, they were stuck in that with me because I told them in the hospital, I was like, hey, my goal is to come back.
00:23:19.239 --> 00:23:21.332
I was like I'm going to play baseball again.
00:23:21.332 --> 00:23:23.851
He's like I believe in you, like you're going to do it.
00:23:23.851 --> 00:23:30.592
And so the first year I kind of took a gap year, just to you know rehab, get my prosthetics and all that.
00:23:30.825 --> 00:23:36.390
And then last year was my first year playing collegiate baseball and obviously it was my first year playing collegiate baseball.
00:23:36.390 --> 00:23:49.261
Obviously, you gave me an opportunity to do this today, so I'm so extremely thankful for all the coaching staff, all my teammates, my teammates, for the huge role in, you know the recovery process, because a lot of rehab is mental.
00:23:49.261 --> 00:23:50.526
I tell people all the time.
00:23:50.526 --> 00:23:56.673
You know a lot of it is physical, like there's a lot of physical challenges, but that's only about 20% of it.
00:23:56.673 --> 00:24:08.478
The rest of it's know the mental, the mental capacity of getting up every day trying to get better and really just changing your perspective, and they really allow me to find a purpose.
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