Parker Byrd, a sophomore at East Carolina College who misplaced his leg in a boating accident two years in the past, turned the primary individual to play in a DI baseball sport with a prosthetic leg.
He debuted for the Pirates within the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter of their 16-2 win final night time.
“It is among the proudest moments I’ve ever had as a coach,” Cliff Godwin, supervisor of the group, mentioned in an on-field interview with WCTI-TV, reported by ESPN. “And he’s going to get some extra. He has labored his tail off, it was tremendous emotional. The umpire behind residence plate advised me once I was making a change he has been umpiring for 17-18 years and it’s the coolest second he has ever been part of.”
In the summertime of 2022, Byrd’s legs had been minimize by a ship propeller, leading to dropping his proper one. He had 22 surgical procedures in a 45-day window, proving that restoration was going to be a protracted street. In December of that very same 12 months, he obtained his prosthetic leg. 19 months later, he was capable of stroll as much as residence plate to swing.
“I imply chill bumps man, it’s completely phenomenal,” Byrd mentioned after the sport. “This crowd, these followers, these folks, my household, my teammates, coaches I actually couldn’t be extra grateful and blessed.”
After the video of him enjoying went viral on social media, many reached out to Byrd and supplied their assist. One individual was former New York Yankee Jim Abbott, a pitcher who was born with out his proper hand.
“Properly achieved Parker! Nothing can cease you!” he wrote on X.
