Wes Eyre won Wyoming Chapter of National Football Foundation courage award
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LARAMIE — Tough luck and the exuberance of youth played havoc in the life of LHS senior Wes Eyre.
Eyre, a dedicated LHS athlete, with a bright future had the life he had looked forward to sucked out from in front on him due to an accident in which he broke his neck. A split moment in time, and his life changed drastically. But dedication and perseverance led him to the young man he is today.
And the ‘can do attitude’ he learned from a bareback rider in the bed next to him in the hospital paralyzed from the waist down, “was one of the best things that could have happened to me,” Eyre said in his profile for the 2018 Keith and Joyce Bloom Courage Award he was presented with last week in Laramie.
Eyre said, “He (bareback rider) had a ‘Never Give Up’ attitude and that was what I needed. That Never Give Up Cowboy is now walking and that gives me the courage and hope that if I Never Give Up and work hard, that noting is impossible.”
When Eyre fell and broke his neck, he was doing what many young people do, enjoying the day and the moment. He and his family were at a family reunion. Eyre was jumping from bale-to-bale of the hay that was nearby when he slipped, fell, and the rest is history.
The award Eyre received is not given every year. It is given to a senior athlete who “has shown unusual courage and dedication in overcoming a physical or mental condition to become a valuable and inspirational member of his football team.” Eyre received the award from the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation.
Eyre had always considered football his favorite sport and had his eye on the Shrine Bowl when he became a senior, hoping to don the uniform of the South Team. He said both of his brothers played in the Shrine Bowl and he wanted to earn his turn, too.
Eyre said he thought the break would be repaired and he would be up and about. His reaction to the news that this wasn’t going to happen left him ‘”devastated,” Eyre said. But his courage and commitment have been a contributing factor, not only to the LHS football team, but also to the entire student body.
Eyre plans on attending the University of Wyoming and majoring in Ag Science to become an Ag teacher.
