Dexter Wilson can
shoot 100 free throws in a row.
He’s not on the basketball team.
And when he was born, doctors said he would never be able to
walk.
The 16-year-old Owen County High School student was born with
hydrocephalus – “water on the brain.” It affects
the right side of Dexter’s brain, which controls everything
from speech to being able to brush his teeth.
At age 9, he proved doctors wrong when he learned to walk. Since
then, said his mother, Virginia Wilson, he has loved basketball.
It’s just one of the many things he has accomplished in
spite of his disability.
“He’s a very outgoing, loving, great kid,”
Virginia said. “He never meets a stranger.”
His teacher, Patsy Glidden, agreed. She said that Dexter is
a pleasure to have in class and that he is a very “lovable
child.” She said Dexter gets most excited when the class
goes on field trips, but his real passion is basketball.
Dexter plays basketball anytime he can. One of his favorite
words to say is “gym” and the ball rarely leaves
his hands during gym class – unless of course he’s
making a shot.
Glidden said she is amazed by his talent. She has worked with
Dexter since he was in elementary school. He is now in her class
with three other students.
One day in gym she noticed that he was making shot after shot,
so she started to count them. Though Dexter used to only shoot
about 41 baskets in a row, he’s broken his own record
several times since then. Last Friday, he broke 100.
“I think that’s amazing,” Glidden said. “When
I first met him, he was in a wheelchair.”
He doesn’t need the wheelchair anymore, running around
the gym chasing the basketball and finding different spots to
shoot from. He tries to get others to have their turn, something
his father said he didn’t always do.
“Years ago he wouldn’t pass anybody the ball,”
Danny Wilson said. “It wasn’t until you mentioned
going inside that he’d let you have it.”
The whole family plays basketball together. Danny said they
try to play at least once a day, if the weather permits. They
have a goal and court outside their house, which lets Dexter
do what he loves most when he isn’t in gym.
“He lasts longer at it than I can,” Danny said.
Shooting 100 baskets in a row only took Dexter half an hour
and as he continues to practice and play he can keep breaking
his own records. Missing one doesn’t phase him, he just
picks the ball back up and tries again.
Another thing Dexter is admired for is his personality. Everyone
around him can only say good things about him. He won’t
let someone walk by without saying hello.
“If he walks past you and you don’t speak to him,”
Glidden said, “he’ll try and make you.”
He has dealt with a lot of challenges in his life, growing up
with a disability, but his mother said he has accomplished more
than his doctors thought he would.
In many aspects, Dexter is just like any other kid his age.
He picks on, fights and wrestles with his 19-year-old brother,
Daniel.
“(Some things) have been hard to deal with as he’s
grown up,” Virginia said, “but we don’t dwell
on that. We as adults could learn a lot from him.”
