A Blind Iowa Senior Made a Basket During His First Game [WATCH]
North Polk High School student Clay Warner amazed the tiny town of Alleman, Iowa on Friday night!
Also known as the “Heart and Soul of North Polk,” 18-year-old Clay was born with cerebral palsy and is legally blind, but that has never stopped his love of basketball. He is a very dedicated member of his high school basketball team, even though, until last week, he had never left the bench. According to the Washington Post, "he had dressed for every game, had suited up for every practice, but until Friday night — senior night ― he had never clocked even a minute on the floor in a varsity basketball game for the Comets."
Clay was ecstatic when head coach Nick Wilkins put him in the game against Roland-Story with a minute left on the clock. The coach told WHO-TV:
“I wanted to get him in. It was Senior Night. If there’s an opportunity that presented itself, I wanted to take advantage of it. All the players were for it, too.”
Clay was in the right corner of the court when the ball was passed to him. He took his shot and the crowd went WILD.
The Comets ended up losing the game 63 to 48, but I don't think that mattered to Clay or his teammates that night. His mom Melissa told WHO-TV, "He said he felt like he was part of the team doing what his teammates were doing.”
[Via Washington Post/WHO-TV]