Latest / CBN Sports 1-ON-1 / Ep. 6 The Parker Byrd Story

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Ep. 6 The Parker Byrd Story · CBN Sports 1-ON-1

• Will Dawson: Welcome to CBN Sports One-on-One, where you'll hear exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in sports right here on the CBN Sports Podcast Network. I'm your host, Will Dawson. If you're like most of us and you love sports, but you're tired of the dark side of sports culture, me-focused athletes, or even organizations that bow to an unbiblical belief system, we think you're gonna love this podcast. There's no yelling, no sensationalism, just great conversations with athletes and coaches who recognize that their purpose is bigger than their sport. Normally, this is the spot in the podcast where I introduce the guest and say, let's jump right in. This week is a little different, and you'll see why in just a moment. I'm gonna start with a question. What would you do if you lost the thing that you love the most? Would you be angry with God? Well, you wouldn't be alone. The Book of Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah in some very trying circumstances. And because we live in this fallen world, we're susceptible to pain, to grief, and even to loss. It's common. Today's podcast focuses on a young man whose future was so bright. His name is Parker Byrd, and Parker was a highly touted middle infielder coming out of high school. One of the best, if not the best, in the state of South Carolina, and Parker had committed to play baseball at ECU, East Carolina University. Just a few days prior to the season started, Parker was in a boating accident that caused such bad damage to his leg, the doctors recommended amputation. His dream was seemingly over. So I asked the question again, how would you respond? We're gonna start this interview with Parker's parents, Jeff and Mitzi Bird, as they recount life before and after the accident and how God blessed their family in the midst of crisis. Let's jump right in. ⁓ when you think about so Parker was your first, right? Right. And you're in the midst of your your career, and when you think about him. And I remember as a dad too, thinking about the fur the first one, you remember everything that happens with them and then the subsequent kids, you kind of like I I don't remember this as much, but ⁓ when he was growing up as a little boy and playing baseball, what what are some of your favorite memories about him or what stood out to him as his personality? I think what really stands out to me is how different he was on the baseball field than he was in everyday life. because he was just so quiet and meek and just shy and you know, just followed rules, never got in trouble. just the sweetest little kid. And when he would step on the baseball field, he turned into this not that, you know, he was bad, but he became so competitive and ⁓ just his whole persona would change when he would go on the baseball field. It mattered to him. It mattered and he he was just so competitive and full of confidence and, you know, like it just really mattered. You know, I think of Parker is just his his desire to win and just to be a leader was such a big difference in the way he'd normally live his day to day life. ⁓ I think about times in high school where we were down in games and a coach would call time out and Parker would walked to talk to his coach and tell him, Hey, coach, I got it and just go and always get the hit. He never failed. Which was different than, you know, he was just so confident in each moment. And, you know, you talk to people who have coached Parker and they're like, you know, he was the guy we always wanted in the box. He was the guy we always wanted the ball hit to. And, you know, there's just he was just a different kid than the one we raised for sure on the baseball field. You raised him in church, I'm assuming. That's always been part of part of your life. ⁓ why was that important for you guys? Well, like we were raised in church and our you know, our beliefs and our faith was very important and you know, ultimately that's what matters most with your kids and all of this shall pass with baseball and everything else, but they needed the strong foundation of who they belonged to and, you know, what their purpose was for. You know, we've prayed so hard for Parker. You know, we had trouble getting pregnant to begin with. And I can just remember praying one night saying, Hey God, if you give us a baby, we we'll always would bring him to you and we'll raise him in church and he would know who you are. And, you know, I I think that was just a commitment we'd made to God pretty early on that, you know, if you bless us with a child that he will know you. And, you know, we've tried to do that with each of our kids. You know, his dream was always to play pro baseball, you know, but you know, you think about the percentage of people who make make it as a pro is very small, but the people who stand before God one day is a hundred percent. And you know, that's the thing that we each and every day when we raised our children, it's like, hey w let's make sure we know who he is. How early on did you realize he's he's pretty good He's actually better than a lot of the other kids. When did you think maybe, you know, ba he's got he's got a path in baseball? Really early. I mean, he had an older cousin who was three years older than him. And when Parker was like three or four, he would his cousin was already playing on this little team and Parker could hit just as well as, you know, the five and six, seven year old kids. And, you know, he was able to play on a tribal team when he was five. And the very first tournament he hit Ninth, played right field, and by the second tournament he was playing second base and playing hitting in the in the two hole. And you know, he was always just like we said earlier, just different on the field than he was day to day. And he just was always confident. We knew pretty early on that we didn't know how far he would go in it, but we know that he was gonna play baseball for a very long time. How much did you enjoy as a mom sitting in the stands when he's in middle school, high school? watching his games. ⁓ I loved it. It it was so it's like you look forward to like the whole week, what what day we have games and Your lives really oriented itself. All of our lives and I mean like we have two other children and, you know, they were involved in their things too. But our whole family pretty much is a unit, like we say our girls were raised on a baseball field because we were on a baseball field all the time. It was some of our greatest memories. You guys are a very tight knit. family. So there was no sibling rivalry or jealousy that Parker Parker was taking some of the attention when it came to his baseball. It was it's funny to think that Parker's dream of playing collegiate professional baseball almost so became some of the our family's dream because, you know, our girls when ⁓ Parker was injured, they wanted to move 'cause they want to make sure Parker's dream was still fulfilled. And they were going to support him any way possible. And They were that way growing up, you know, they were always there for guns with him. They were always his biggest supporters. Our youngest daughter, who half the time was never paying attention to the game. When she was, you know, two or three you could always hear g go, Come on, P V and that's because that's what she p called Parker and ⁓ then she would go back to colouring and doing whatever. But pretty early on they've supported him in every way. He Committed to ECU, at least verbally committed to ECU, really early on. Is that right? He committed when he was 14 years old. He hadn't even played a high school baseball game yet. He he played with the South Charlotte Panthers, which is a big pretty big organization. with Merrifield, who played who was the AO hit leader a few years ago, played in the same organization. And ⁓ you know, we he played down in Florida his freshman year, had a really good tournament. The Panthers won the tournament. So a lot of the kids started getting on the college radar, college got on radar. And Parker knew pretty early on he wanted to go to East Carolina. He loved Coach Godwin, he loved the program here. and he would go to games that he was not even playing with and wearing ECU stuff. And his travel coach would say, Parker, you don't need to wear so much ECU stuff because there's other colleges looking at you. So I know where I want to go. And that's when I want play baseball. After that big tournament, you know, he was talking to ECU pretty heavily, talking to few other schools. ⁓ but on November 12th of 2018, you know, Coach Cowan offered him a baseball scholarship and he committed on the spot. He's he knew from that moment that's where he was gonna play, and he never wavered ⁓ from coming here. It's it's pretty impressive because as a as a dad of a kid who played NAIA football, that whole Hey, these schools are courting my my son. For a lot of kids, that's a lot of fun. Right. That attention coming from different areas. But he it seems like he wasn't he wasn't interested in that at all. No, he wasn't interested. He I mean he he taught to a few schools because, you know, you have to keep at that so early, you have to keep some of your options open and but he he knew where he wanted to go and he knew if the opportunity came, that's where he was going. And so ⁓ to me it was kind of nerve wracking. You would go to these tournaments and all these college coaches were there and even afterwards, like even after he committed, I would still kinda get nervous when I would see him, even though he had committed and I'm like, you still have to perform, they're still watching you. But he I I feel like looking back it was a huge blessing. To go ahead and come in because I watched some of the other kids for four years. It's just a long process. And so I was very thankful. There are a lot of moments throughout your life and in your kids' lives that you remember maybe they're not as significant as others, but one would be in February when it's National Signing Day and you go to the school and the coach is there and you sit down at a table and they sign there. letter of intent, I guess, to play for ECU. Did that did you guys go through that whole thing? Yeah, we did. He you know, he di wanted to do it on his high school baseball field. He did it on on home plate and, you know, surrounded by his family and his teammates and, you know, he sitting there with his high school baseball hat and his college baseball hat and, you know, just thinking of the four years that we waited, 'cause he committed so early, it felt like he was committed to ECU forever. Right. And then for that day finally to be able to send that letter of intent in. ⁓ to know that was the dream was now a reality. And hearing about Parker a little bit, he probably was like, Yeah, of course. I mean, come on, let's go, let's get this thing going. It's it's been four years. ⁓ so in July that year, he is out on a boat. Was he out on the friend's boat? How often did he go out on the water? He ⁓ never went out on the water like during that summer. They were only here for one session of summer school. ⁓ Coach Goblin wants all the freshmen to come in and it just gets you acclimated to workouts and going to class and the university where stuff is, you know, versus coming in in the fall with everyone and all of that being shoved at you. So they were only here for a few weeks and you he had a a teammate that kind of came in later that was a walk on and his family had a river house nearby about forty minutes away and he had been asking pretty much every weekend, hey, let's go out. And at that time Parker was coming home almost every weekend. So he never did, but it was the last weekend of the summer school. So four teammates finally decided, okay, yeah, we'll go out. So they went to the river house, ⁓ Like that Friday and went to Bing, had a great time, spent the night, did it again the next day, and that's when it happened. He wasn't even supposed to stay that Saturday and one of his teammates was supposed to help a couple move and they called him early Saturday morning and said, Hey, we don't need you today and so they end up talking that kid and Parker in the stand 'cause Parker was gonna bring him back. And so he wasn't even supposed to be out on the river that day. And Mitz and I had just gone to Yellowstone for a few days. All the kids had committed to either camps or going to the beach with friends and Parker was at school and we went to Yellowstone and we were coming back from Yellowstone and I just read about Toronto Blue Jays, ⁓ first base coach who lost his daughter on right around July fourth of that same July. same deal. I was out on the boat was tubing and the propeller hit her and she died. And that day that they went out, Parker FaceTimes me around twelve thirty and, you know, we're both talking to him and said, Hey guys, when you approach the boat today, make sure the motor's cut off. And everyb all the kids heard me say this, except for the kid that was driving the boat. And so Parker's out on the tube that day and He had fallen off the tube and he was swimming back to the boat and when he got close to the boat the boat got put in reverse and the propeller hit both of his legs and his left hand but the propeller cut his ⁓ one of his main arteries in his right leg. And he eventually lost his leg, twelve days after the event. And What do you remember about getting the phone call, Mitzi? I'll I'll start with you the day because you're you're on your way back and you're just trying to get back into normalcy probably. We're at home, and we're just, you know, trying to unpack and get things straightened up. I was helping our youngest daughter clean her room and ⁓ his girlfriend at the time ⁓ actually called Jeff and said ⁓ Jeff, you have to get to Greenville. There's been an accident. Parker's been ran over by the boat and I think he's dying. They're flying him to Greenville. And so we're two and a half hours away at the time. And Jeff had actually walked had left to go he had we were clean out closets and we had some stuff to take to donate. And he comes right back and runs into the house and says Mitzi, we have to go. Parker's been hit by the boat. We gotta go. And at the time I just remember like almost going blank, like we just talked to him, like we what what do you mean? And you just kinda go in that you like frozen mode, like what? You know, what's ⁓ like we weren't dressed for the day. I mean, I had like I was about to go work out, I had workout clothes on and you're just you just in panic, you just run. And we ran to the car and grabbed our other daughter and had you know, both our kids and just drove frantically to Greenville. ⁓ he was driving crazy, a hundred and ten miles an hour down I ninety five and ⁓ and it was really scary because we just You just don't know. You there's like so much uncertainty about what had happened. ⁓ we were trying to get up with all the kids that were on the boat, like what happened, how bad is it? We're getting different stories from each kid and we both have medical backgrounds and I knew that if they were flying him like from forty five minutes away, that it was bad. Like typically that's an ambulance ride, you know, that's not a helicopter ride. So I knew realistically that it had to be bad in order for that to happen. But, you know, we were hoping and praying that, you know, one of his teammates like, ⁓ it's just just some cuts on the back of his leg. I mean, I think he's gonna be fine. And so we were kind of clinging on to that, but deep down you knew that probably wasn't the case. I ⁓ As a parent, you play through those scenarios in your mind, getting a phone call, and y you I mean, I at least I I know you guys probably the same way, just thinking about the possibility of something getting a call someday. Something something happening. what you were given was kind of worst case scenario. I mean that they really dropped a bomb on you, and I'm sure that there was probably a a pit in your stomach when you heard that. Yeah, I mean you know Our daughter was out the other night and she calls me at six o'clock this was three days ago and you know, usually she calls her mom, like Grayson's Mitzi's baby, like she loves her mom and she calls me and and but they're on the same river that Parker got hit on and she calls me and she said, Dad and as soon as she said It triggered it all over again, like thinking, you know, something was wrong. And you know, I don't know if I will ever get over to hearing the words Parker's dying. And I'm driving so hard down ninety five because, you know, I'm like, I gotta get there before he dies. And you know, they're all in a car, like slow down, but all I could think about, like, what if I don't make it? Sorry, that I would probably never shape. So when you get that to the hospital then and you're just hoping that you you're that he's alive. Right. ⁓ did you speak with a surgeon or or what happened there? ⁓ no, he was in surgery when we got there. ⁓ we made it in it typically takes two and a half hours and I think we made it hour and forty five minutes, maybe. And that's with With a blown tire. Like I blew my tire because I was riding on the side of the road so much, passing cars, that I blew a tire probably forty minutes out and it was four o'clock on a Saturday and she's like, We're never going to be able to get there and she looks up on her phone, ⁓ tire shops and eight hundred feet from where we were was a Hispanic tire shop and they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish, but they knew that we were in trouble. And they had one tire in shop that fit my car and they put it on my car within three or four minutes and I mean it was a very slick tire, but we're back on the road and make it to Greenville in an hour and forty minutes. Yeah. And they're in sur he's in surgery at the time and so we didn't know anything for hours. ⁓ I think when we get here he's Because he didn't have an adult with him, they had him under a ⁓ an alias. So for a while we couldn't even find where he was. And when we finally found his location, they took us to a waiting room and we were there probably five hours before we were ever given an update. And, you know, we were still kinda hanging on to some of his teammates telling us ⁓ the wounds aren't that bad and you know, I knew Parker's first thoughts were gonna be baseball. And, you know, the surgeon comes out, or the surgeons, there were three that come out, and the first question I asked him after they told us he was the bleeding has stopped was, Is he gonna be able to play baseball? Because I knew that's what mattered most to Parker. And the vascular surgeon looked at me and said he's alive. And that's all I can tell you right now. And that was the when we realized that How bad it really was. Yeah, like, ⁓ this is bad. This is really bad. On your way there, were you talking to God? We pretty much prayed the whole way there. I mean, like, I think the whole way when we were just, please God, be with him. You know, please God save him. You know what I mean? Just I can just remember just nonstop, just just praying like that he was alive. Yeah, absolutely. The whole way. You know, in between calls of and then calling family, like telling ⁓ what's happening, pray, you know. Is that something that you do all pray together normally, out loud together? I that may be a personal question, but I know sometimes it's it's sometimes it's a difficult thing to do, but it obviously in this situation is is very different. We definitely have prayed together, you know, through our marriage. A lot of times we prayed alone sometimes we pray together and you know it's one of those things that we're very conscientious now of making sure that we always pray together. And I mean definitely that day we prayed together and ⁓ I mean his prayer's definitely been part of our our marriage life for sure. When you so he's he's in surgery, you find out that he's at least alive, but then there's still this, you know, maybe it maybe it won't be okay. I don't know. And then he When do you how long what was the period of time before you're like you've got the assurance that he's gonna be okay? So the first surgery you know, the first surgery they come back and they say the bleeding stopped. And so he has surgery not the next day but the following day, and they were looking for the sciatic nerve because they couldn't find it on the initial surgery. And so the plastic surgeon comes in and says, Hey, I found the side nerve, it's in the it's intact. ⁓ the muscles are pretty shredded. But I think with time, we can get him back put together. if I can get him back to 80%, his words, if I can get him back to 80%, it would be a home run. And Parker went into baseball mode at that moment because he's the biggest competitor you ever met. And I'm talking to the doctor and I hear him say to his mom, ⁓ obviously he doesn't know who I am. Because Parker knew that 80% was not good enough and that he would never settle for anything less than giving his best and been at 100%. And so surgery after surgery happened for the you know the first eight days and ⁓ things were going going well. We thought everything was gonna be fine. You know, the surgeon told us that. Parker's muscles were shredded all way to the side of nerve, but the propeller stopped one millimeter from his side of nerve, and if it had hit that nerve, he would have lost his leg instantaneously. That there would have been no saving his leg. ⁓ so, you know, we thought, hey, there's God performing another miracle. And ⁓ August 2nd comes and she had to stay with him that night, and we know we would always the exchange in the hallway because of COVID rules, we couldn't always be together. And she said Parker's foot's really cold and his foot's really blue. And ⁓ you know, I think we kind of both knew knew then that there was not great blood flow to his foot. And he was scheduled for surgery that morning. And we thought it was just gonna be another surgery he was having to put muscles back together, clean the wound out. And ⁓ we get a phone call saying, Hey, we need to see you right away. And ⁓ the vascular surgeon who had been operating on him had was in s another surgery, so another surgeon was filling in and they had taken him out of the OR that he was in and moved him to the s vascular hospital that's you know, still on the same campus, but ⁓ he just didn't have any blood flow to his foot. And they put a catheter in trying to increase the blood flow back to his foot. And we did that for a couple of days and you know That's when you know, we're not very ⁓ public people when it comes to social media, but you know, we did rely on prayer. You know, I mean I can just remember saying to Mitzi, can you just ask for prayer? No, we need ⁓ for God to save us foot. And you know, and that became everybody's prayer. It was you know, blood flow would be restored and ⁓ August fourth comes and I'd stay with him that night and it had just been a very long night and he was just in lots of pain and ⁓ the surgeon comes in on August fourth morning and says to him, ⁓ Parker, I don't think ⁓ we're gonna be able to save your leg and you have two choices and you know, one, you could keep doing what we're doing and see if the blood flow comes back, but the medicine's not working and you wanna end up with an infection and your kidneys are gonna shut down and you're you're probably going to pulmonary failure or lung failure and you know probably will not live. Or we could amputate your leg. And Parker said, I don't have a choice. let's let's amputate the leg 'cause I wanna live. And ⁓ I called Mitzi right away and you know, we couldn't because he was an ICU both be there and they made an inception and You know, she was there within thirty minutes and you know, Parker cried for thirty minutes. He probably cried for maybe for fifteen minutes. And the second surgeon came in and by that point, ⁓ Parker had already accepted his fate. That, you know, he had moved on. I mean, like mentally he was like, This is what needs to be done. And Later that afternoon he had his leg amputated. When you get to the hospital, he's in surgery. And so when was when was the first moment that you saw him that he was awake and that he recognized you being in the hospital? And what was it like kind of relaying to him what had happened? We saw him that night, like after it was late, it was probably maybe ten, eleven. maybe even later that night. ⁓ and he was awake from surgery and he just he looked extremely pale. He had lost a ton of blood. and his first words was to us that he was sorry. I'm sorry. Why why were those his words? I think probably because look well, he never wants to disappoint you and he never wants to cause problems. And he knew like not that it was his fault that that had even happened, but we had just been talking to them like boat safety, be careful, the waters, you know, it's dangerous and I mean he was doing everything. Like they were just riding on a tube. Like he wasn't in control of the boat or the driver or anything. But he I'm sure he just didn't want to for us to be disappointed in a situation or I don't know that he understood the severity of it at that time. ⁓ I mean, he knew that his legs had been cut. He'll tell you that he never looked down at it, so he didn't know. ⁓ but he knew that they had been hurt at least and ⁓ that this was going to somehow delay his baseball and I'm I'm thinking that he just didn't want us upset. ⁓ so he tells us he's sorry and we're like, you know, it's it's ⁓ okay, you know, you're still here. And I'm not really sure how long it took him to Realize ⁓ okay, this is probably the first dressing change ⁓ when the the plastic surgeon came in a few days later I guess to change the dressing because it's that's typically done in surgery. So we never really saw it. And he took photos of it and he was like, You wanna see? I I don't think we knew that it was bad, but we had not seen it 'cause it was covered. And when we come back in he's Did you wanna see my leg? And he showed us and we were like, ⁓ wow, okay. So, ⁓ but that was his initial response was, I'm sorry. ⁓ He was thinking about you guys. Yeah. Mm. Not thinking about himself. I mean that's when we tell you that's who Parker was, like he's always put everyone before him and you know, he just didn't want us to be upset with him or Us to, you know, be disappointed that he did something wrong. You had prayed, God save his leg, and you're hoping for a miracle. God doesn't answer the prayer that way. What was your response? ⁓ I mean, did it did it shake your faith at all or what was going through your mind at the time? ⁓ I think for me, you know, your initial response is just devastation. Like, ⁓ okay, this didn't get answered. Why did it not get answered? ⁓ you know, I just kept, you know, talking to God like this kid has worked so hard, like truly since he was old enough to walk. Like this is this has been his dream. And he is just days away from it actually happening. And like everything was lining up for him. He had just got his number, like you know, his number 16 his entire life. And it he didn't have it initially when he came, but he had just got his number. He had just designed his glove. Like everything was falling right in line with him. ⁓ he was a shortstop and the shortstop for ECU had just got drafted. So he was in a a good standing to compete for that position as a freshman. And I just kind of remember thinking, really, God, like you're gonna take this from him now? Like at this pivotal moment in his life, ⁓ this is what's this is what you're doing. And you know, I kinda wrestled with that for a while. but you know, I just finally came to the the realization that God always knew that this was gonna happen and that, you know, God loved him first. And this was somehow gonna be part of his story, and I had just to have faith in that, that you know, God has a plan for him, and his plan might not have been my plan, but his plan's gonna be bigger than what I could dream of it happening, and ⁓ maybe he was never design to play shortstop at ECU, you know, like maybe something else. And I I finally had to just ⁓ just let it go to him and I said, you know, ⁓ whatever your purpose is behind this, like, you know, I just it has to be bigger. It has to be bigger than what we had dreamed of. So I'm just giving it to you. And I had to Just have faith in that. That's well said, Jeff. What about yours? Mm. You know. I don't think I like let it go that easy. You know, I mean Mitzi definitely, ⁓ even pretty early on with Parker in baseball, sh you know, playing pro baseball was never Mitzi's dream for Parker because she's like, you know, I just wanna be able to be the best godly father or godly husband, playing professional sports and you know that to her that was more important than, you know, him playing short stuff with the Atlanta Braves or whoever he was you know, drafted by but, you know, Parker and I went to the baton cage every single day of his life and we're to a baseball field and ⁓ you know, I I watched many days of and hours of him dreaming a dream. And you know, he was such a good kid. You know, he never went out. He never caused trouble. He was just a really good kid. And you know was pretty angry, you know, with God. ⁓ because I'm like, you know, this this kid is so good. And this is his reward. And I just remember one night just thinking about Jesus hanging on the cross. And that's God's son. And you know, and I've said this a thousand times, like if Jesus can hang on a cross and that's God's son, that cannot expect things to ha not happen to us. And you know, that was in the moment I realized whatever God's plan is, we're gonna show glory and hope in it. And, you know, I mean I still fight it some days. ⁓ But we do know that ⁓ pretty early on that God was using Parker for something special. So it's just hard sometimes to let dreams die. And ⁓ but you know, s sometimes God's no I mean I read it today, sometimes God's no is not a rejection but a redirection. And I truly feel that. you know, God redect r redirected our life and Parker's life. ⁓ based on what he needs Parker to do. Wow. That's powerful. ⁓ so we'll take a a probably a long period of time, a a brutal period of time, and that was the you know, getting from the wheelchair, like you said, to the crutch, that whole rehab part of time and him getting used to his his new leg. How difficult was it for him? How difficult was it for you to watch him go through that? ⁓ you know We had to give Parker some like purpose in like keeping his his mental health and, you know, his ⁓ his drive alive. Like and I just remember watching like ESPN had just released the Captain series about Derek Jeter, ⁓ through their ESPN series and just trying to watch that with Parker and I just remembered like he would he was not interested in it. And ⁓ I think the next night Mitzi stayed with him, and he says to her, Mom, I don't think I'm ever gonna play baseball again. And she says to him, Why not? And he says to her, I there's never been a Division I baseball player who's played with a prosthetic. And she said, Somebody has to be the first. That was all it took for Parker to realize, okay, my dream's not dead, but my road's a little bit different. And so he hung on to those words and as soon as he came h home from the hospital hospital the very next day, he said, Can we go to the bank cage? And he's in a wheelchair, his leg's amputated and it's so wrapped up, you you don't even recognize it's a leg. And ⁓ we just go to the bank cage and we turn the machine on and He sits there with a bat on his shoulder in a wheelchair and watches balls go by for, you know, fifteen minutes. He doesn't swing the bat just watching balls. And ⁓ the next day he has to go back again. And the next day he has to go back again. And eventually he got to a walker and he would go to the cage and he would hit with his front hand and because he was not able to rotate yet and and this goes on for weeks. And then months he gets better. He's now on crutches and he's doing front hand drills, backhand drills. You know, I'm driving back and forth five hours a day and and he's going to the cage with his mom. If she can flip balls to him some days if I'm on call or you know, some of his friends from back home with taking with a his sister, we'll go put balls on the tee. I mean, it became a very team effort to just keep this drive going and ⁓ you know, four months out there his amputation he gets fitted for prosthetic and of course that night we go to the batten cage for the first time with two legs again and ⁓ you know just be able to see him swing with two hands again. You know, it was almost like watching him wall for the very first time as a baby and ⁓ you know, you're just so proud. And ⁓ you know, it it's just been a very slow progression. You know, looking back, you know, I guess it wasn't even that slow, but you know, every single day was just like progressing, getting better to where he is now. I just I just know that, you know, whether it would ever happen or not, I didn't know. ⁓ no one knew but Parker needs a goal. ⁓ Parker's always has to strive for something better. And once he reaches that, he has to top that. And I knew that if he didn't have a goal we would lose him in a very dark space. And I couldn't let that happen. So I think God just gave me the right words at that moment. ⁓ I didn't know it would be so such a turning point for him. I d I didn't it just came out really, but when he said, Mom, I I don't think that I'm ever gonna play baseball again. And was thinking, ⁓ gosh, we can't go down this road right now in the hospital and lose him. And I said, Why not Parker? And he said, Well, I'm g I' missing a leg. ⁓ I'm gonna be an amputee. Like I pe ampucees don't play baseball. No one's done it. And I said, Well, if no one's done it, then someone has to do it. There always has to be a first and there always has to be records and there will always be someone to break a record. And if it hasn't happened, then That needs to be your goal. And I and he just kind of shook his head and got very quiet. You can tell he went into his thinking. He's very quiet in the hospital. ⁓ and there was a period that we thought he was gonna lose his knee. ⁓ his knee was dead, and we were told many times that they couldn't amputate above the knee initially because the muscles were still so Shredded that they couldn't make a flap. So they were waiting for his thigh muscles to heal before they could amputate above the knee. and realistically, we knew without a knee it was gonna be really hard because your mobility is not nearly as good. It takes too much energy to try to walk, and you have to get a mechanical knee, and ⁓ so that was tough for a little bit thinking. How we're going to keep him here, knowing he's not going to have a knee. But then we had two different surgeons tell us that the bones were dead and it would have to be eventually amputated. And I just put many prayer requests every day out. Please pray for blood flow back to the knee. We need his knee. And little by little the blood came back. to his bones and all of the tissue. And we even saw the photos. It was completely black, like dead. And it all came back. so, you know, I just told Parker, I was like, see, and that's a miracle. God restored blood to your knee. He turned black tissue back, you know, pink and red, and you're gonna get your knee and No, that's just I just knew he has to have a goal. Yeah, he's a he's an achiever for sure. ⁓ so we will fast forward then to this season when he's got his leg, he's in uniform, which is in and of itself just an unbelievable feat for him to actually just be in the dugout, right? But then that night that everybody has seen around the world where he goes up to bat, tell me the emotions that are going on inside your heart. And inside your mind. ⁓ my gosh. That was well, first of all, you're so proud. You're so thankful. Like it's actually happened. You've seen the work put in and ⁓ you know, there's tons of work behind the scenes and ⁓ You know, I I I watched him warming up one time and just he took a several steps back, backwards, and I almost burst in tears just seeing that because I knew that that took probably three weeks in physical therapy for just for him to be able to do that one motion. And so the amount of work that went into it, ⁓ and to see him work so hard to get there. And for it to actually be happening and to see everyone like this town, this college, our family and friends, everyone has been so supportive. ⁓ so believing in him and to see everybody just erupt when he came out and it was it was pretty great. And then you're nervous because then you're like, ⁓ please get a hit. Everyone's watching, this is gonna go everywhere. But It was great 'cause both of you guys were on that video and and you can see you kinda looking at each other, just trying to process the whole thing. So it's pretty amazing. We were we were higher up in the stands and my the guy I practice with Kid is the ⁓ creative content person for East Carolina and he comes and sits beside us and he said ⁓ he just he's talking and He gets a phone call and ⁓ he said, I we want y'all to ⁓ get lowered down if you could. And so what's up? He said, Parker's one went up to hit. And I just burst into tears. Like, I'm like, Parker's about to hit, you know, and ⁓ we go to the bottom so we can see and hit better because we're higher up. But he he comes out of a dugout and the crowd goes crazy. He me takes one step out and ⁓ you know, he gets in the box and then I kinda go back into dad mode, coach mode, and like my emotions kind of go away. You know, all I'm at my moment is, you know, don't strike out, you know. And ⁓ it's always funny ever since he's been little, if he should swing, I almost my body jerks like he's just swinging too. And I almost went back into that same emotion of like being in the box with him and you when Balfour comes and he runs at first base, you know, I think it's like, okay, the emotion came back and like that just happened. And ⁓ you know, something that you never thought would happen again happened. And, you know, ⁓ you could just see from the very first time he sat in a wheelchair to that moment running to first base that you never one thought he was gonna walk again to see him walk to first base. ⁓ was a miracle. What what is Parker's story as we kind of wrap here. What does Parker's story tell you about God's faithfulness? I feel like Parker's story shows us that first of all, God never leaves us. He's always with us. ⁓ even when you feel that he's not there and you feel alone, he's still there, he's still working, he's carrying you through it. and Even when you think it's the absolute worst thing that could ever happen, God is rearranging it to use you and use your glory. use use it for his glory. He would never want that to happen to your child, but then it happens and you see the difference they're making in other people's lives and people. No being inspired by him and you just have to step back and think, okay, y you know, you've really turning this around. Your your plans are bigger than anything that I could imagine for him, so he's always there. the day Parker l lost his leg was August fourth and back home they had scheduled a prayer vigil that night. And It was really to have a prayer visual f for him's leg for his leg to be saved, but it ended up being the same day his leg ended up being amputated. And nine people that night nine people that night gave their life to God. And you know, without Parker's accident, those nine people may never enter the kingdom of heaven. And you know, it was the first time I thought, okay, there's something bigger than just you know a baseball game, a baseball player. And ⁓ then a guy that Parker played baseball with, ⁓ his dad, you know, he was really close to Parker and hadn't hadn't prayed in over twenty years and he he texts me one day and he says, I'm praying and he texts me a few days later, he's like, I've read my Bible, so I'm I'm praying for Parker and and then he ⁓ gives his life to God and ⁓ you know, I tell Parker as to hey, ⁓ you know, Toby gave his life to God and and I just never forget Parker's saying if it if it took Parker if it took me to lose my leg for Toby to see the gates of heaven, it was worth it. And so I mean those are things that you I mean just God's faithfulness through this hall is is amazing. This kid comes in my office, you know, very recently, was born without his right lower leg. And they live forty minutes away and I walk into a room and see this kid's pissing his leg and I say to the parents, you know, hey, ⁓ you know, just introduce myself, start talking, and they're like, We're here because we know Parker's story, and we're here because we want hope from you because of Parker. And ⁓ you know, those stories, those moments weren't written by any human but by God. And without Parker losing his leg, you know, I'm not there for that family. You know, they're without hope. You know, our surf our suffering, you know, is for his glory, you know, and it produces so much hope in people that Yeah, what Parker's able to do, you know, he he has not let words define him. He's just not let the word can't or no or impossible even mean anything to him. And ⁓ we know that, you know, God is behind those those things for him. So if you're a parent, you know the pain of just imagining your child going through something as horrific as Parker's accident, and yet Jeff and Mitzi say they were blessed through it. Now let's switch gears and hear from this remarkable and inspirational young man himself, Parker Byrd. Let's talk about eight year old Parker Byrd. ⁓ and even younger, your dad talks about you being three, four years old and and being ahead of your time. How much did you love baseball when you were a kid? ⁓ I think it was really my life at that time. ⁓ I think every day dad got home from work and that's the first thing I asked was if we could go to the field and I think I actually started in our backyard and ⁓ would hit one way the the short way of our backyard and then turn turn around and hit the long way once I started hitting it over the wall and then eventually hit it into the pool and like, hey, I think it's time to go to a field and ⁓ I think I would wear ⁓ other or baseball players jerseys and ⁓ I would do the national anthem, kinda go everything go go all out for it. So I think it was just my life and I was a huge Brian McCann fan, huge brave guy. ⁓ so I was definitely ⁓ playing catcher a lot. When you thinking about being Brian McCann or whoever, what how big was that dream being able to play in the big leagues someday to you? I mean, it was huge. ⁓ I think that's ⁓ just every kid's goal that just loves baseball as much as I did. ⁓ it's what I did every weekend, every day and just n may that next step, ⁓ that'd be college or MOB is just I was looking forward to it and that's all I've ever dreamed of. You were confident that that was gonna happen too, right? Yeah, it was ⁓ definitely on a promising path. ⁓ committed from a very early age, ⁓ ninth grade, which is kinda unheard of a little bit and I think it was before I even played a high school game. So it was definitely in the the right the right direction but why was ECU the school that you knew w you were gonna go to and you really didn't want to hear ⁓ You'd really hear the pitches from other coaches. Yeah. ⁓ I would say just the culture here. ⁓ the coaching staff's phen phenomenal. ⁓ the consistency, how good they are each and every year. I mean, you see k teams across the country and they're good for one year and kind of have a down year the next year. But here at ECU I mean we're a top fifteen team every single year, which is really unheard of in college baseball. ⁓ the just the consistency, the atmosphere here, ⁓ the fan base is absolutely phenomenal. I mean You'll see it tomorrow at the the regional it's gonna be six thousand plus on ⁓ one PM game on a Friday. ⁓ so I mean just fan base and ⁓ coaches really. Eighth, ninth, tenth grade, eleventh grade, you're going to ECU baseball games, sport in the ECU gear. How excited were you to get to be a part of that? I was I was really excited. ⁓ I mean, because I committed so early on, I had something to look forward to, ⁓ for a very long time. So I was just looking forward to coming to summer school here, ⁓ before my freshman year. ⁓ and I think I was marked on my calendar for a very long time. But ⁓ just getting to represent ACU even even before I was even here was really cool and ⁓ just kinda knowing that everything I do is being watched. ⁓ growing up as a kid, part of your identity, a large portion of that identity was being a baseball player. ⁓ and then you also had the identity of of being raised in a Christian home too. when you think back about your faith then as a kid, what did it mean to you? ⁓ I would say that ⁓ it was definitely a big question mark. it was definitely ⁓ definitely our firm foundation as a family, but I didn't on my own dig into the word like I should have. ⁓ but my parents did a great job of just taking me and my sisters to church. ⁓ we were traveling a lot because of baseball so ⁓ it was kinda hard to go on Sundays but we would go on ⁓ weekdays, very late at night sometimes we would 'cause we would go about thirty minutes away to church. ⁓ but I mean I it just it was kind of a big question mark because I didn't dive into it on my own. I didn't ⁓ really understand fully of what like faith was and ⁓ I think as I got older I kinda understood like hey this is what life is really about. You sign your letter of intent to get ready to go to ECU. Your parents said you signed it over a home plate, which is cool. Yeah. ⁓ and then you're in that summer before before it really becoming the dream becoming real for you. And then that day happens when you're out on the lake. Do you remember waking up that morning, the thoughts that you had that morning? Do you remember anything about that day leading up to the event? ⁓ yeah, I've ⁓ I remember everything. ⁓ I think we were just in Bath and I was supposed to ⁓ come back to Greenville to help one of my friends. ⁓ he was ⁓ going to help an elderly couple move some furniture and I told him, Hey, I'd h take you back. I don't really care to be here two days. ⁓ but just happy to be with my friends and ⁓ just thought I was gonna have great day. You were on a tube, is that right? Yes, sir. Yeah. ⁓ and then things went wrong. What do you remember about the moment that that happened? Yeah, so ⁓ me and one of my teammates, Dixon Williams, ⁓ got on the tube first that day. ⁓ like I said, we weren't even supposed to go out that day. I was supposed to come back to Greenville, but the guys had kinda convinced me to stay b stay in ⁓ town and go tubing with ⁓ like we did the previous day. ⁓ so me and Dixon got on tube first. First ride went great. ⁓ I think we're on for about twenty minutes or so and we both ended up falling off and we just like, Hey, we had a great time. Let's get back on and the driver's like, Hey. I'm gonna try throw you guys off a little bit quicker this time. So I'm gonna go a little bit more crazier and we're like, okay, sounds good. ⁓ so when he started up, he was definitely ⁓ went a lot faster than what we were expecting. And ⁓ Dixon ended up falling off the tube ⁓ before I did, and then the driver ⁓ turned the boat and it the tube hit a wake. I went way up in the air and I'm terrified of heights, so I just kinda let go and hit the water really hard. And me and Dixon both agreed just to go back to the boat because We had enough for ⁓ the time being. And so I was swimming back to the boat and Dixon was pretty far behind me. And I was kinda using the rope from the tube to help guide myself in. And as I got within ten yards or so, ⁓ the driver put the boat in reverse or it was knocked into reverse somehow and essentially ended up running me over and the propellers hit both of my legs and my left hand as well. ⁓ and then the guy I was supposed to take back home, Miles, He jumped in immediately because he had a friend from back home in Florida die of a boating accident. So he knew that getting h me help was very urgent. ⁓ so him and Dixon helped guide me back to the boat. ⁓ they pulled me onto the boat and the all the guys on the boat were tying turning control on their my legs with their shirts the best they could ⁓ while waving down other boats. Well the first boat stopped and we addressed the situation to ⁓ and they're like, hey, we have kids on the boat, we can't really help. But Here's a first aid kit. ⁓ well this isn't really gonna help right now. I was far from just needing a band-aid. ⁓ so they continued webinar other boats and the second boat stopped, and on that boat was two couples, and the only reason they were there at that time was because one of the couple had gotten into an argument and they're like, hey, can you just take me back? We're kind of done for the day. ⁓ so on their way back they saw us and they stopped. We addressed the situation to them. ⁓ they agreed to help, and so they were getting me transported to their boat. And on that boat, one of the ladies was actually a nurse. So there she was tying more tourniquets around my legs with rope that they had on their boat ⁓ while they were taking me to the marina where there was an ambulance waiting on me. And then the ambulance took me to the local hospital hospital in Washington, ⁓ where there was a helicopter waiting on me. Then they airlifted me from Washington Hospital ECU Health here in Greenville. That's a lot of detail. Do you remember all that? I do, yes. So I was like, Very hyper aware ⁓ just because I kept telling myself like Parker stay awake because if you end up passing an hour falling asleep, like I don't know if you'll ever wake up again, you you'll probably end up dying. So I just kept telling myself, ⁓ one percent inch by inch, not yard by yard, which is ⁓ the Brian Kane mental performance that we were doing at ECU at the time. ⁓ so just taking it little and ⁓ piece by piece. You had to have been at least concerned, right? Definitely had to have been scared. Definitely. Yeah, it was ⁓ it was definitely a lot of uncertainty. ⁓ I didn't really look down at my legs. I was honestly really focusing on my hand. I was like, dang, it that looks weird. But ⁓ yeah, I was it was I didn't really know what was going on. ⁓ I heard the doctors kinda talking or the nurses, the flight nurses talking on the helicopter and ⁓ but I tried to kind of tone it out and just kinda stay in the moment and just breathe and honestly stay awake. So when you when they put you out was when they were taking you into surgery. Correct. Yeah. So they they rushed me immediately into surgery, ⁓ in the trauma unit and they kinda just wheeled me in there and first thing they did of course was a COVID test. ⁓ and then ⁓ they put me under and so after that I think only thing I really remember was the COVID test and then after that it's just asleep. What was the first thing that you remember when you woke up? Probably seeing my parents briefly, honestly. ⁓ I remember talking to my grandparents telling ⁓ to stay in Alaska. ⁓ but besides that, as the first couple weeks were kind of a blur. Your parents said the first thing that you said to them when you woke up was you were sorry. Yeah. What was that about? ⁓ just I honestly don't even know. ⁓ it's cause I I guess I felt guilty 'cause they had called me like right before I went out that day and told me like Hey, stay away from the propeller, cause we had just heard a story of this baseball coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, the first base coach, his daughter had just died in a boating accident. So daddy dad just had read that in an article and ⁓ was kinda telling me about it. And they kinda had a weird feeling. ⁓ they're not really the helicopter parents, but ⁓ they were trying to like get us not to go out that day. And I was like, mom, dad, like. We're gonna be okay, like we kinda know what to do. And I thought I honestly just kind of probably felt guilty. What point did you think to yourself the sport that I love, who I am, my identity being a baseball player could be over? ⁓ I would say maybe in the beginning. ⁓ I realized that it was pretty severe. ⁓ but then the doctors were telling us like, hey, his legs are gonna be okay. ⁓ just with some extensive rehab, he'll get back onto the field. So then that doubt kinda went away. But then after my amputation, I just kinda realized like, hey, nobody's ever done this. ⁓ this is kinda uncharted waters. So I would definitely say that doubt cre definitely creeped back in after my amputation. There was a period of time before when when they gave you the news that you have two choices and that's basically have your leg amputated or face death awesome. What was going through your mind during that part? ⁓ I just wanna keep living. I think he came in very early that morning and said, Hey, like, we can either continue on this medicine that we have you on right now and which isn't working at all and you'll end up dying, or ⁓ we can just amputate your right lower extremity and I was just like, Hey, I wanna keep living in life and ⁓ baseball's why I do, but that's not my life. I know that's what I lived for but it's bigger than baseball at that moment. ⁓ I just just wanna keep living and I knew that my story wasn't over. You are you're a very matter-of-fact person. Like things are the way they are. You have very positive attitude. That's that's awesome, man. It makes you the leader that you are, I'm sure, around other guys. And that that stuff's infectious. But when you're laying in the hospital bed at some point during that time, because you were there, how long were you there? I was there for four weeks. That's a long time to think about what's happening. Did you think about your faith? Did you think about I mean were was there at any point that you thought this this is terrible? Yeah, ⁓ definitely because I mean, obviously everybody has a plan for themselves and ⁓ when your plan ⁓ kinda hits a fan and it turns into God's plan, it's definitely a lot of questions 'cause you're like, Well God, why am I here? ⁓ what are you doing? ⁓ but eventually his plan's always greater than yours. ⁓ and it took a while to realize that and we kinda Leaned on the Bible verse, Jeremiah 29, 11, ⁓ like we were just talking about with the wristbands. It's ⁓ people made wristbands for me, put it on there. And it's just honestly what we we leaned on, basically just saying that he has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us and plans for us to have a hope in the future. So I think that's really what we leaned on is trusting in his plan, even though we didn't know what the outcome was gonna be. ⁓ but definitely on the outside of ⁓ kind of looking back into it, we can definitely tell that. His plan is always greater and that even though you had to go through some difficult times, he was still working. Again, your confidence is through the roof. and you you meet challenges and you're like, give me the next, give me the next thing, I'm gonna go for it. Was there a time when you actually thought to yourself, Jeremiah twenty nine, eleven, no matter what happens, maybe I won't play baseball again, but that'll be okay? Definitely. ⁓ I mean, I was still very confident that I was gonna get back onto the field. ⁓ but so there's a lot of doubt of how am I gonna do this. ⁓ but just knowing that if you just work hard in life, ⁓ anything is possible as long as you just trust in his plan. But ⁓ there definitely was some time in there where well, how am I gonna do this? But I mean, as long as you keep on, keep on then everything will be work out the way it should. You you had a period of time ⁓ with the rehab when you're ⁓ when you get your prosthetic for the first time. ⁓ you're you're in a wheelchair, you in a you were in a walker. ⁓ how difficult was that time or did you feel like you were in a place where all right, I've got a goal and I can kind of move on to the next thing? Yeah, I definitely kinda took the what's next mindset. ⁓ just that one percent better each and every day. ⁓ with that being how can I get out of this hospital? ⁓ or when's my next surgery? How can we finish surgeries? And then after everything was complete with the surgeries, it was how can I get out of this wheelchair? ⁓ how can I get out get off this walker on the crutches and then once I got my prosthetic it was how can I be fully weight bearing on it? ⁓ because there was period of time at first of my prosthetic not fitting very well, ⁓ just because it's a very tedious process. ⁓ so if it's not the exact fit then it's not very comfortable at all. ⁓ so there's a time where it wasn't comfortable and then ⁓ in March or in twenty twenty three is the first time I was fully ⁓ weight bearing on my leg. And from there it's just like, hey, how can I get back onto the field? and then first we worked on my swing and then speed and then all that good stuff afterwards. I'm more like your dad, where moments and emotions I can I can picture what's happening. So when you step into the cage for the first time on two legs, ready to take a swing, your dad, I guess he's he's throwing a pitch to you. Yeah, it was probably a ball. But what was what was that moment like for you? It was awesome. ⁓ just cause there was a lot of preparation just to get back to that moment. ⁓ with that with me just hitting on a shower stool, one handed drills, ⁓ to me just watching a ball off a machine, ⁓ just seeing that velocity again. But seeing dad throw live arm, ⁓ I don't think I would ever be happy to see that. ⁓ but I was definitely a lot of emotions at that moment. The first time you dressed in in the uniform and were able to get back on the field. What about that? It was awesome. ⁓ I think it was February sixteenth was my first game, ⁓ back. So it was it was definitely a lot of emotions and ⁓ Coach Godwin told me before the game game like, hey, if ⁓ the game if we get ahead by a comfortable lead, just be ready to hit. ⁓ and thankfully we did. And and again, another big time moment, walking up to the plate. For you probably it's like Yeah, of course. This is what I'm supposed to be doing, right? Right. But but for your parents who were in the crowd and all these people that had been praying for you, that was a surreal thing. And you know it went viral, went worldwide. People were were watching this happen and what an inspiration it was for people. But what what did it mean to you? I mean, it was just a powerful moment. ⁓ just to prove people that I'm still here, I'm still Parker, I'm still a baseball player. ⁓ just Even though difficult things happen in life and adversity hits you, it doesn't mean just to give up. ⁓ 'cause if you just continue to work hard, then his plan is greater than ours. ⁓ but I mean I just people really didn't see all the recovery and stuff. So ⁓ I think it was just awesome for people to finally see me back and see me back onto the field and ⁓ to prove people wrong and prove people right. ⁓ just my believers that believed in me and the people that were there the whole time. PTs, coaches, teammates, I mean it was just really for them and just because they've supported me the whole time and ⁓ just to show people that God's mercy is there for us. Your path is still the same path, but it's taken a a detour, it's gone a different way than you anticipated. ⁓ but maybe, you know, maybe it's it's something bigger than you had ever imagined. That's what you see kids. Who are coming to the game because of you, what does that mean to you? It's just it's surreal, honestly. ⁓ just that I get to be able to have this platform just to share God's light and just hope for people, ⁓ with that being them losing a leg or going through a divorce, whatever it is. But ⁓ just seeing amputee kids at the games now, I mean, it's just really cool to see and just hearing stories like people getting back into sports even though they thought that they couldn't previously, and seeing me just walk up to the plate. ⁓ not swing the bat once but just walk up to the plate, just give them hope ⁓ to just get back into life, just get back into the game of life. I think that's the biggest thing and that's r honestly what I'm here for is just ⁓ share his light and share his mercy and just show people that hey it's bigger than baseball, that ⁓ God's there for you no matter what you're going through. When I hear about some of those stories and and you talked about when you were younger, your faith You know, you were a believer, but it maybe it wasn't as real to you then as it as it is now. What have you learned over the course of your your accident and where where you're at today? ⁓ that God's always there. ⁓ that even in your darkest times or in the valley that he's still working. ⁓ you may not see it at the time and it may be very foggy to you at the time, but ⁓ that his mercy's still there, that he still has a plan for you that He's g giving you that trial just so you can lean closer to him and realize that he is the true way. ⁓ I would say ⁓ that I realize that his plan is greater than mine because I thought I had my whole life planned out, go to college and go to MLB and ⁓ just be a great baseball player, but life's much bigger than just baseball. What does the future hold for you? ⁓ I would say public speaking, ⁓ more baseball and paralympics. ⁓ just J I just love speaking to people now just about his mercy and just showing them that, hey, I'm still here. ⁓ just telling them what happened to me, ⁓ how he has protected me, how his plan has been absolutely phenomenal. And even though at one point in my life I had no idea what his plan was for me, but ⁓ kinda still living his plan, but kind of outside of the the trials ⁓ for time being. ⁓ but just showing them that hey, ⁓ he's he's awesome. I spent time with the Bird family and came away so blessed for it. You know, Parker's response to his accident, to a complete upheaval of his life, was handled with such grace and such resolve because he trusted God. I can't honestly say that that would have been my response if something similar had happened to me. You know, Parker's doing some great work as he finishes up his career at ECU, and God has some big things in store for him, so go and give him a follow on social media at ParkerBird D. That's Parker B-Y-R-D with an extra D. Parker, God bless you, brother. We're praying for you, Jeff and Mitzi, as well. We appreciate your hospitality. And ⁓ if you enjoyed this podcast, we ask that you would share it with a friend, a family member, or a coworker. And our goal is to reach the world with the gospel through sports. We'll see you next week.