Davis Carson '21 Recruiting Profile

December 4th 2018 I was diagnosed with an Aquired Mitochondrial Disease.  Doctors told me I would never swim again, or walk without a cane.   I was discharged from Duke hospital in a wheelchair and with a walker.

This past  year, I have fought this setback with strength I didn’t know I had.  I fight through pain everyday but know that I am on the path to recovery. 

 Due to this physical set back I have had to change my availability year to 2021.  I feel that it is in my best interests to continue to train locally and be close to my doctors.   In the meantime I will be attending a local college to work towards my PreMed goals.  

I fought harder than the doctors had thought, and with that I am recovering faster than the doctors predicted.  They said come summer 2019 I would just be getting back in the water and leaving a wheel chair.  I told myself I was going to defy the odds stacked against me.   

A week after being released from Duke in a wheelchair I began swimming only a few strokes.   I could hardly swim and needed assistance just to float.    In April 2019 I officially ditched the wheelchair and moved to a cane.  

The doctors were shocked at my progress and how much I fought to recover.  This September 2019, I ditched the cane.

This past summer (July 2019) I competed at an International Championship meet, something no one expected me to do.  

I continue to fight  to prove the doctors wrong.  Not only am I now walking aid free I am swimming again and starting to get best times.   

I haven’t lost focus of my dream to swim at college.  I still have work to do but I will continue to fight and will do so for your team as well.