Double amputee is a star on the football field
Posted: Oct 07, 2013 10:32 PM CDTUpdated: Oct 08, 2013 1:58 PM CDT
Ward Webb plays football for the Mountain Brook Junior Varsity team. An accident when he was young left him a double amputee. Source: WBRC video
MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL (WBRC) -
At first glance, number 55 on the Mountain Brook Junior Varsity football team may seem like a typical linebacker on the field. But after a closer look, anyone can see there's something very unique about Ward Webb.
"He's a double amputee and he's playing football," explained Webb's mother and number one fan, Marion Webb. She says her son has come a long way since he lost his legs.
Webb was just four years old when he was in an electrical accident and doctors amputated the bottom portion of both his legs. From a young age, Webb had to learn to use prosthetic legs and growing up it was a struggle.
"He would come and say 'Mom, I can't do this, I can't do this!' And I would say 'Yes you can! Let's just find a different way to do this.' And he did every time," Marion Webb added.
Webb says with his love for football matched by the support of his family, nothing was going to slow him down.
"All my life they've been helping me when I've been upset," said Webb.
Mountain Brook High School football coach Chris Yeager remembers the day Ward asked him to play.
"I was little bit apprehensive, but that was before I got to know him," Yeager said.
Yeager said it didn't take long for Ward to prove he could hold his own on the field.
"We tried to adapt things for him and he would always say, 'Coach, I can do this! I can do this!' And so we got used to that and he was like any other player," Yeager added.
Monday night, Webb took to the field with his teammates. He says he's grateful to be on the field. His coaches say they're lucky to have him on the team.
"He comes out here and he does what he does and he does it well. He is just such an inspiration to our whole team, our community, coaches, everybody," Coach Yeager said.
Webb says the prosthetic legs do break on him on occasion. He says he's working with a specialist who is developing a prosthetic leg that can withstand what Webb does on the field.
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