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September 6th 2025, will be a date etched in my mind forever. To say I’m devastated is an understatement. Anyone that knows me knows how important movement was for me; I’ve been an athlete my entire life. From getting a football scholarship, to translating my athleticism into my supposed career; going to the gym, going on hikes, and running around freely without a care in the world. I lost a huge part of who I thought I was, something that was ingrained within my identity.

Everything has changed since that day. 3 months laying in a hospital bed. 4 separate surgeries. Waiting in the lobby of a hospital for over an hour while blood pooled in my leg, feeling like it was going to pop at any second. I finally know how heavy a heart can get. Some days I wake up and I’m Keyon Slowly, some days I wake up and I can’t find him.

Petrified echoes of what once was; the best way to describe the sensations, the pain, the instability; a constant reminder of my grim reality of not being able to walk. But I’m the strongest person I know. The most resilient. I’ve kept this so close to my chest because of feelings that I made up or thought were important. Embarrassment. Depression. Loneliness. I struggled to share this. But, I’m done hiding. Until death, all defeat is physiological.

A good friend of mine said to me earnestly, “I’m glad that this was you and not someone else that I know, because I don’t know anyone that would be able to deal with this the way you are or I know you will”. I believe that whole heartedly. I know I’m going to take this and turn this into something bigger than myself, greater than who I once thought I was.

Everyone here is the first part of my Kommunity. You are who I want to share my story with. I want to not let this new way of life consume me. This is the hardest part of my life, but I know this isn’t what is going to break me; and for that I need to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has ever given up on me and turned their back on me. Thank you from the bottom my heart; it prepared me for this. It gave me the resilience and the strength of mind to know that I can come back from anything. And, most importantly, thank you to my mother.