Two years ago Westside senior Tre Lawson thought he was headed to college on a track scholarship.
He was one of the top hurdlers in the nation, recruited by schools like Auburn and Clemson.
Instead, he faced one hurdle he never saw coming.
A car wreck with two track teammates left Lawson paralyzed from the waist down and landed him in a wheelchair. Everything he worked for was gone.
"He fell asleep at the wheel. We fell off the road down into like a 30-foot ravine," says Lawson. "I was in a coma. I had abdominal injuries. My spinal cord was almost severed."
After lying in a coma for a month, Lawson was transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. That's where he began rehab and started to regain some feeling in his lower body.
"When I looked down in my hospital bed and tried to move my legs and I realized that I can't -- not able to move my legs or anything, it was just like a down and depressing moment. I felt like I was at the lowest part of the Earth," says Lawson.
But he says he realized his injuries could've been worse or even left him dead, and he knew he could inspire others to keep pushing forward in their own lives.
"People started telling me that I'm inspiring them and that I need to keep doing what I'm doing. Then I realized that maybe I needed to give back to the people that helped me get back to where I am," says Lawson.
Lawson started a non-profit called "Rolling Hope." Right now, he's selling T-shirts.
"They say, 'I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say because of you, I didn't give up,'" says Lawson.
The money goes back to the Shepherd Center, helping fund research for spinal cord injuries.
But Lawson says, one day, he'd like to earn enough money to create a "Rolling Hope" scholarship.
"People in a wheelchair aren't different from anyone else, everyone is human. So I want to give back to a person that wants to expand their education and continue to push on with their life," says Lawson.
Right now, Lawson is furthering his own education. There was no running scholarship, but he was still determined to succeed.
He's enrolled at Fort Valley University, where he's reminded daily to count his blessings.
"Even in your lowest circumstance in life, you can still continue and have hope," says Lawson.
Lawson says right now he can take a few steps with a walker, but is determined to walk again on his own one day. He says he's set a goal to walk again by the end of the year.
If you'd like to buy a T-shirt or donate to the Rolling Hope foundation, you can message Lawson on the Rolling Hope Facebook page.