FALL 2017
maskmatters.org
111
PHOTOGRAPHY
Courtesy of Photos by Ronda
WILL &
DETERMINATION
By // Marlee Mauvis
M
y son, William Jordan DeMauvise, made a dramatic entry
into the world on July 18, 2007, 10 weeks early. Shortly
afterwards, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which
significantly impacted his mobility.
Over the course of 10 short years, he has proven
to be a boy who embodies his name: Will-ful and
determined. Having undergone multiple surgeries at such a young age, he
finally learned to crawl at 2 years and 6 months, much later than others. He
became a force. His knees endured every hard surface, and have the scars
to prove it. When presented with a walker at the age of 3, he practiced for
months on end. At 4, he took on arm crutches.
Will embraced sports, from wheelchair basketball and flag football, to
baseball, always cheering on his favorite teams from the sidelines. But one
sports goal remained: Will wanted to play football. Tackle football.
When Will announced to me and my husband Gerard that he wanted
to join the “regular” tackle football league, Gerard told me to sign him up!
When I pointed out the obvious mobility challenges, Gerard’s response
was, “Let them figure it out.”
“Limitations” was not part of the “G” vocabulary and he didn’t want it
to be part of Will’s.
But life took another unexpected turn when Gerard—Will’s hero
and biggest cheerleader —was tragically killed in September 2016 crossing
the road to join us at a football game. For Will, a little boy with cerebral
palsy, life changed dramatically. But tragedy would not define our family…
or Will.
Shortly after the accident, Will was introduced to the Storm Pee Wee
league by our friends, the Hays family, whose son Mason plays for the
team. In learning of Will’s desire to play for Storm—and to be able to wear
the Storm jersey to school like his friends—the team was prompted to
action led by head coach Sam Andrus, who, without hesitation, added Will
to his roster.
