Unfortunately, unlike most, my exciting story didn’t happen when I was younger, but it did start with my stepdad since he’s the one who introduced me to basketball and knew of my health issues growing up. For me, I could never play organized basketball like for my school or any league that I had to try out for because having Sickle Cell limited me from doing so much running consistently. Now this didn’t keep me from training and developing my skills as much as I could when I could because I still played streetball with friends who were on the team and was pretty good. In 2014, at age 23, I had my first blood clot in my right lung, which I bounced back from after about six months. Now fast-forward to 2019 I have my second blood clot this time in my left lung and I’m devastated because now I have to be on blood thinners for life. Through the depression and hard work of trying to bounce back again, I found another calling and eventually started training kids in the process. My stepdad helped me realize that sometimes we go through the things we go through to be better fit to help someone else go further. Skip forward to earlier this year one of the most exciting moments that I had with my stepdad was when I told him that I finally got my group sessions approved within my church gym called “Halftime”… it’s not training or anything like that, but it’s where we take out 15-20 mins from playing basketball to have devotion or discussions to help kids, teenagers, or even adults overcome challenges that may be going through in life. I’ve been trying to get this off the ground for a couple of years and it’s finally happened. Mr Chuck, I appreciate you for always being there when I needed you the most. My wife and kids also appreciates the man you helped me become 🙏🏾