Perhaps it was simply good fate, or his abundance of faith. Maybe it was his incredible fitness. Whatever was the deciding factor, one of Florida’s most talented three sport athletes just feels lucky to still be alive.
As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Orlando (Fla.) Christian Prep three-sport (football-basketball-volleyball) star Mike Walmer somehow survived a one-car accident en route to school on Friday morning in which he was ejected from his car and traveled 65 feet in the air. More remarkable still, the starter on a recent Class 2A boys basketball state finalist, eventually emerged from the accident without any serious injuries whatsoever, and was back in school on Monday.
"While I was in midair, I asked God to please help me before I hit the ground," Walmer told the Sentinel. "I was bracing myself for the fall. And I felt like God just grabbed me and laid me down to the ground as soft as he could."
As MaxPreps noted, Walmer’s indestructibility in the wreck was particularly ironic given the fact that he was known as a hard-nosed grinder on the basketball floor. Walmer didn’t suffer a single broken bone while being flung 65 feet through the air and landing on the pavement, but did break his nose during basketball season.
Walmer, a senior who contributed to OCP’s varsity basketball and volleyball teams for all four seasons, was well enough after the weekend to attend an awards banquet at which he was named the school’s student athlete of the year. While that physical condition may have helped him bounce back quicker, his basketball coach made it clear that it took something more to keep him safe during his terrifying accident.
"I believe God gave me a second chance,'' Mikey told the Sentinel. "He wants me to do something big.''
Walmer already had the talent to do that, now he may just have the self belief and good fortune to do that as well.
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