At first glance Levi appears to be a very strong athletic young man... and he was. In February 2021 he was in his Junior year of High School and the wrestling season was about to wrap up. He was on fire! He had traveled the country despite COVID and wrestled with some of the best talent he could find to prepare himself for the season. He had his sights set on the podium at the state tournament.
Districts came and Levi dominated the competition and came out as the District Champion!
Regional came and Levi moved his way up the bracket win after win. He was set to wrestle the championship match against the very same opponent from Districts. We knew he could do it! And the match was going great. Levi was doing exactly what he needed to do, and then suddenly.... something happened. His legs began to lock in place, his hips refused to bend. He had to take an injury time. His muscles simply.... froze. He lost that match, but we knew after some recovery he would be good as new for the state tournament the following week.
Then 2 days later, with still no recovery I took him to the doctor. They knew in general terms what it was. Some type of Myotonia they said. They advised that he probably shouldn't wrestle the state tournament, but acknowledged the importance. So they said it would he best to have an IV drip prior to the tournament and complete rest leading up to it. So that's what we did.
It worked for a short period of time, but just a few matches in he began to get stiff.... then weak.... he somehow fought through all of that and when we thought his chances of getting on the podium were done, his opponent attempted a throw. (Levi's specialty). If you know anything about wrestling, you know that you should be very careful when trying to throw a thrower. And Levi used all of his opponents momentum against him and rolled that throw right through as they hit the mat with his opponents back on the ground. He used the last bit of energy he had in the tank with only a few seconds left in the match and secured the pin. Sixth place. The very next match he went out there and tried.... but we all knew already that his body was finished. He had already won in our eyes. So 6th place it was.... and it might as well have been 1st.
Now, skipping through the lots of doctor appointments and painful tests later.... we now know that Levi has an extremely rare genetic mutation that causes Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis. He also has symptoms of Paramyotonia Congenita, and so we will see a specialist at the University of Florida this month to try and sort all of that out.
But we know this will never go away. It will never "get better". He will have good times, and we hope they are lengthy! But he will also ways need to be aware that his muscles can give out at any time.
He never did get to wrestle in his senior season. He once had Olympic dreams, and now has to give up all athletic activity. He often loses his legs out from under him even if he walks too much.
For this reason, as Levi heads to Texas State University we anticipate lots of walking between classes. He will be signed up with the office of disability services to get as many accommodations as possible, but we want to help make things a bit easier.
Having a motorized bicycle will help lighten the load on Levi's muscles and give him the opportunity to use his muscles when he wants to.... not just when he has to.
Thank you so much for reading his story. If you choose to donate toward the cost of his bike, please comment a note of encouragement for him. It would mean the world to all of us.
