JACKSON, Tenn. — May 14, 2012 — David Wilson came to soccer practice one day bearing cupcakes, after his Jackson Christian School team suffered a difficult loss the night before.
鈥淲e had a long game last night, and we got beat by a really bad team, and they were pretty depressed,鈥� he said of his team. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got another game tomorrow, so I鈥檝e got to pep them up a little bit.鈥�
The 14 players sat on the ground and listened to some instructional and encouraging words from their coach, Joseph Walker, and Wilson, one of his assistants. If you give your best effort every game, work hard and hustle, that鈥檚 all we can ask from you, David told them.
The players then took to the practice field for a series of drills. David joined in, but his movements aren鈥檛 as fluid as they once were. He runs with a noticeable limp. The foot-long scars on his thighs sometimes peek out from under his shorts, a constant reminder to David 鈥� as if he needed one 鈥� of the horror he encountered four years ago.
A 51社区 senior, David has had his own encounters with difficult losses. His battle through them has inspired not only the JCS soccer players, but others who know him, also.
As he鈥檒l walk across the stage to accept his degree from Union President David S. Dockery in Union鈥檚 May 19 commencement, the scene behind him will look drastically different than it did four years earlier. The crumbled, broken building that entrapped David for five hours has been rebuilt and replaced by a new facility that stands tall and strong.
David Wilson from his soccer-playing days as a freshman at Union. (Photo provided)
鈥淚t turned out to be a huge blessing in so many ways,鈥� David says of the experience. 鈥淎 lot of people鈥檚 lives were changed because of it, and my life was changed because of it 鈥� more than just physically. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally.鈥�
Flashback to Feb. 5, 2008, when the Union campus was on high alert because of a tornado warning in Jackson. David, a freshman at the time, was waiting out the storm in the Watters Commons playing ping-pong with a few buddies. They moved into the bathrooms for safety at the instruction of the residence director.
The lights flickered and the exterior wall cracked. David hopped down from the countertop where he was sitting and covered up on the floor as the tornado blasted through. The wind鈥檚 force blew him forward onto his face, with his knees pinned to his chest. The building collapsed on top of him, and David couldn鈥檛 move. For five hours.
He and his fellow prisoners passed the time by singing and praying -- and vomiting -- while they waited for rescue workers to reach them. When the firemen finally got to him and raised him up, David鈥檚 legs didn鈥檛 drop down.
鈥淭he most excruciating pain I think I鈥檝e ever experienced in my life was when they pulled my legs down,鈥� David says. 鈥淢y legs were up, and they pulled them down onto the stretcher and strapped them down. I just remember my hip flexors shooting with pain. The muscle had been so tight for five hours, and then they stretched it out.鈥�
David may have been out of the hole, but he wasn鈥檛 out of danger. His legs, especially, were in jeopardy. The next morning, he awoke with his hands tied down and a ventilator in his mouth. He still managed to scribble a note to his parents: 鈥淒id they find all the boys?鈥�
鈥淵es,鈥� his mom Annie answered, and David wept.
Wilson's injuries from the tornado took weeks of healing and rehabilitation. (Photo provided)
A day later came the fasciotomies 鈥� four lengthy cuts in each leg to relieve the swelling 鈥� as doctors fought first to save his life, and then his legs from amputation. Though they won both battles, another issue soon surfaced. David developed a nerve disorder in his foot, a painful condition that had no cure and no effective treatment. David was taking high dosages of painkillers, and doctors said he鈥檇 likely have to continue doing so for the rest of his life.
鈥淲e doubted if he鈥檇 ever be able to go back to school, or have a job or drive,鈥� says Mark Wilson, David鈥檚 father.
After a few weeks in the hospital, David got a pass to attend church with his family one Sunday. An attack hit David in the middle of the service. His parents wheeled him into the lobby. He sat there crying, and they sat with him doing the same.
A couple of minutes later, about 10 men from the church came out, knelt around David鈥檚 wheelchair and prayed for him. 鈥淚t was one of the most special moments we ever had,鈥� Mark says.
One of the men, a doctor, told the Wilsons about a pain management specialist in his office. When they went to see that specialist, Dr. Gregory Ball, he provided David with much-needed reassurance.
鈥淒avid, I know you鈥檙e hurting,鈥� Ball told him. 鈥淚 know you鈥檙e scared. I know you want to go back to school. I鈥檓 telling you today, it鈥檚 going to be OK. We鈥檙e going to get you back to school, and you鈥檙e going to be able to minister to people the rest of your life that would never have been in front of you if God hadn鈥檛 put you through this trial.鈥�
David spent two months in the hospital for treatment and rehabilitation. On April 11, 2008, he walked out on crutches.
A nerve test that summer showed no feeling anywhere in one of David鈥檚 legs, but yet he could walk. He also hasn鈥檛 taken any pain medication for two years, despite the doctors鈥� initial diagnosis.
鈥淚t blew their mind,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 understand it. It didn鈥檛 make sense to them. How do you not feel anything, but yet you can still walk? The whole thing has kind of blown everybody鈥檚 mind, I guess. I guess that鈥檚 what God鈥檚 good at, right?鈥�
David returned to Union for the fall semester in 2008, hobbling on crutches until Thanksgiving, when he put them away and hasn鈥檛 used them since. He resumed his life as a college student, going to class, hanging out with friends, attending soccer practices and games to watch his former teammates. That process was difficult, because David knew his days playing the game he loved were over. But he says Clovis Simas, the men鈥檚 soccer coach, and others in the program helped him tremendously by pulling him back in and keeping him a part of the team.
鈥淪occer was fun for me, and I loved it, but it wasn鈥檛 the reason I came to Union,鈥� David says. 鈥淚 came here to get an education, with the mindset that I could blow my knee out and never play again. I do feel very blessed that the Lord gave me that sort of outlook on it.鈥�
Union Provost Carla Sanderson with Wilson at this year's Scholarship Symposium. (Photo by Morris Abernathy)
On May 1, 2012, David stood in the Carl Grant Events Center for Union鈥檚 annual Scholarship Symposium, where nearly 300 students present significant academic research they鈥檝e conducted. Sporting a navy blazer and a bow tie, David displayed his poster and discussed his project with interested faculty and students.
Entitled 鈥淪ynthesis of Chromium Quinone Complexes with Nitrogen Donor Ligands,鈥� David鈥檚 project includes such words as 鈥渄ihydrobenzoquinone,鈥� 鈥渢etrahydroxy鈥� and 鈥渂ipyridine.鈥� The explanation reads like a foreign language to non-chemistry majors.
鈥淢e too,鈥� David quips.
David hopes his work in chemistry will allow him to enter the field about which he is most passionate 鈥� medicine.
鈥淚 want to be able to help people in that way because the physicians that I had were so good for me,鈥� David says. 鈥淚 always wanted to be in medicine. Was I as passionate about it as I am now? No. But I always thought it was something that was interesting.鈥�
Members of the Union chemistry faculty helped David prepare for that field in the classroom, but their investment in him went beyond academic instruction. One of the things David will always remember is how chemistry professor Mike Salazar called him every day he was in the hospital to check on him and encourage him.
Since then, David has been to the Salazar home several times for meals. He has become a friend to the whole family, learning the names of Salazar鈥檚 kids, their individual interests and talking to them about the things they enjoy. He relaxes there and plays Wii with the children.
Through this level of interaction, Salazar has noticed an 鈥渁biding and deep contentment鈥� in David鈥檚 life.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been through tremendous physical and emotional challenges and has emerged without an attitude or longing for what might have been -- but, instead, with a resting in his current state and for how the Lord will use him given his unique experiences,鈥� Salazar says.
The symposium was one of the last major events for David in his life at Union. A fifth-year senior whose graduation was delayed because of the semester he missed following the tornado, David has seen all of his close friends 鈥� comrades with whom he endured the greatest struggle of his life 鈥� finish their degrees and leave.
David spent his last year completing his classes and devoting much of his time and energy to his soccer coaching at JCS. In the fall, he helped with the JCS girls鈥� team before his work with the boys鈥� team this spring.
鈥淗e鈥檚 scientific with his words,鈥� Walker says of David. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a man of few words with them. He鈥檚 a man of very few emotions, really. Guys like that don鈥檛 necessarily go over well with high school girls. And yet, somehow, they worship the ground he walks on.鈥�
David has told his story to both the boys鈥� and girls鈥� teams, and Walker says while both groups appreciated his testimony, David鈥檚 account especially resonated with the boys.
鈥淭hey recognize genuine Christianity, and they recognize genuine courage, and high school boys are attracted to that,鈥� Walker says.
David Wilson and his fiancee Kristen Lee. (Photo provided)
As his final days on the Union campus drew to a close, David looked forward to the future. He鈥檒l move back home to Chattanooga after graduation, with plans to apply to medical school. Early next year, he and his fianc茅e Kristen Lee will marry.
Whatever the rest of his life holds, his time at Union will forever provide a foundation and an influence on the person he is, and the person he will be. His time at the university was unexpectedly colored by a five-hour span he spent pinned under the weight of a collapsed building and the ensuing weeks he spent in a hospital bed. He鈥檚 still not where he used to be physically, and he may never be. He can go hiking and mountain biking, but he鈥檚 quick to acknowledge that tramping down the Appalachian Trail isn鈥檛 in his immediate future.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still some muscle regrowth happening,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he doctors said it would stop after two or three years, but it鈥檚 been three and a half now and it鈥檚 still going. They said I wouldn鈥檛 walk, too. I don鈥檛 usually believe what they say.鈥�
Although the memories of that February night are now more than four years old, they鈥檙e still a constant companion in David鈥檚 mind 鈥� never far away from the surface. He鈥檚 reminded about his nightmare every time he walks past the memorial marker in the middle of the quads on the Union campus.
The quotes inscribed there are a testament to how the Union community rallied together in their darkest hours, and how Union students, faculty and staff trusted in the goodness of God even in the midst of uncertainty and hardship: 鈥淥ut of the rubble across this campus I am praying that we will see renewal鈥� and 鈥淲e lost the buildings, but we did not lose the Union spirit,鈥� from Union President David S. Dockery. Another quote comes from 2 Corinthians: 鈥淭herefore, we do not lose heart.鈥�
Those quotes are also a fitting description of the tornado鈥檚 effect on David鈥檚 life. He鈥檚 a different person now than he was then. His family 鈥� which includes his sister Kristen and brother Corey, both Union students -- is closer than ever. When his father talks about their lives, he says that the tornado has changed the way they look at nearly everything.
鈥淵ou learn a lot about what鈥檚 important, and most of it鈥檚 not the things that we spend our time chasing,鈥� Mark says. 鈥淪ure, you wish he could still play ball, and you wish he could run fast again, but those things really aren鈥檛 that important. What it鈥檚 done to his heart, how do you argue with that?鈥�
The Wilson family, from left: Corey, Mark, Kristen, David and Annie. (Photo provided)
David knows in the depths of his heart that God is in control and is bigger than he is. He understands how lives can be changed in unexpected ways in a mere moment, and that people don鈥檛 control nearly as much of their lives as they think. He鈥檚 also learned the most about the Lord, about life and about himself through trials and hardships.
鈥淲hen everything鈥檚 hunky-dory and you鈥檙e on the mountaintops you鈥檙e probably not going to be learning as much as you are when you鈥檙e in the valleys clinging to the cross and hoping for whatever guidance he can give,鈥� David says.
Still, wouldn鈥檛 his life have been easier if the tornado had never happened? If he could, would he go back and erase those February events that have forever changed his life?
David says no.
鈥淭here鈥檝e been too many good things that have happened because of it,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he reality is that people will be in heaven because of what happened that night. What happened that night had a direct impact on Union students as a whole and their relationship with God and on this university and how it functions.
鈥淔rom my life personally, I don鈥檛 think I would do it any other way,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been too much that鈥檚 resulted from it 鈥� too many opportunities to share, too many chances to meet people that I would have never gotten to meet. Yeah, those six, seven, eight months afterward were really hard. It鈥檚 still hard, but I鈥檝e had so many opportunities to meet so many new people that it would be really hard to do another way.鈥�
Besides, the way he sees it, David only got what he asked for.
鈥淓ver since I was little, I鈥檝e always been the good kid,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 never did drugs. I never drank. I never did any of that stuff. So ever since I was 14 or 15, I kind of prayed that God would give me some situation -- that he would get me out of -- that would give me a way to share my faith.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 pray that I would be in a tornado and that my legs would not work anymore,鈥� he continues. 鈥淏ut I always hoped that something would happen where I could say, 鈥楾his is how God has really saved me, and this is what Christianity really means.鈥欌��