We get knocked down buck get back up again. That's a saying that most of us use when something in life hurts us, but we try to persevere and get back in the game. Well, Tre Lawson is the living embodiment of that saying. He's not only getting back up again, he's hoping to inspire others while doing it.
All throughout high school, Lawson was one of the top track athletes in the country, but things took a tragic turn in 2017. After winning a track meet, he got into a car with a group of friends and the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The vehicle went off the road and crashed. Lawson suffered serious injuries including damage done to his head, abdomen, and spinal cord. He woke up in the hospital nearly a month after the accident occurred.
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“It was a huge depressing moment. I thought maybe this is the last time I’ll be able to run again, my career is over. I was wondering if the coaches would still be interested in me even if I recover in due time,” he told Inside Edition. “Looking at the four walls of the hospital room, you become depressed really quickly.” Although it took a while for Lawson to come to terms with what had happened, he ultimately decided he wouldn’t let his circumstances defeat him. He was motivated to get back on the track.
But the eerie part of this story is that Lawson had already lost his oldest brother to a fatal car accident the year before. In his honor, he was determined to get better.
Lawson began rehabilitation, but seeing other people struggling to recover made Lawson appreciate what he was able to do, and he says it gives him a new perspective on life. Now, it's his dream that one day won't need to use his wheelchair.
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He got one step closer to that dream when he back to his old high school track, got out of his wheelchair and decided to make his way around the track without it.
"I went out there, and just the feeling of my feet being on the surface that I did so much extraordinary things — it's amazing and it just motivates me to hurry and get back faster," Lawson said.
It took him more than 30 minutes to walk 200 meters, a distance he once covered in a matter of seconds, he said, but that didn't let him get him down. In fact, it inspired him to push even more--feeling that he could do it.
"I'm going to up it to try to get it where I walk the whole 400 meters and knock it down to 30 minutes and then 20 minutes and then 10 minutes. It's all a process," he said.
The road to recovery has also inspired Lawson to give back. He started an organization called Rolling Hope to...
... raise money for other Shepherd Center patients, and he's studying early childhood special education at Fort Valley State University in Georgia.
The video of Lawson walking on the track with his walker has inspired others, too.
Here's what he wrote on his blog just a couple of months ago:
"Never give up because remember there is someone who is doing worse than you. God has a Plan for all of us. After realizing that I’ll be able to overcome this obstacle I decided to begin a brand that will help others who may not have the same opportunity to get better with similar injuries. The money I raise through my “Rolling Hope” brand will be used to further research in spinal cord injuries so that one day the world will equally treat humans no matter of their circumstances. God created everyone equally so with Rolling Hope the big picture is equality. Although I didn’t go to college on scholarships, I still went no matter my circumstances and I’m still determined to succeed to this day.
