It was the eighth inning of East Carolina’s opening game on the evening of Feb. 16, 2024. The crowd in Clark-LeClair stadium stirred at the sight of Parker Byrd walking to the on-deck circle.
Parker was never allowed a walk-up song when he played high school baseball. Following his commitment to ECU baseball in ninth grade, choosing this anthem was a decision that consumed him. He loved rap music. But also liked the idea of the crowd favorite, “Footloose.”
By his collegiate debut, though, Parker’s walk-up song held a deeper meaning. By then, it had been almost two years since Parker — the second-best shortstop in North Carolina in 2022 (via Perfect Game) — had faced live pitching in a game.
It had also been almost two years since Parker was involved in a life-altering boating accident.
“It was just surreal, seeing everything he has worked for, that we’ve sacrificed as a family,” Mitzi Byrd, Parker’s mother, said. Mitzi wiped her teary eyes with both hands as she watched her son make history.
As Parker’s prosthetic right leg comfortably alternated with his left cleat on his way to bat, the keyboard plucks of “Still D.R.E.” ushered Parker’s return to the diamond. He tipped his helmet to the crowd in gratitude before assuming his stance.
“Guess who’s back.”
All the feels as the Byrd family watched @parkerbyrd11 step into the batters box for the first time 🥹🤟 pic.twitter.com
It was midday on Saturday, July 23, 2022. Parker’s parents Mitzi and Jeff Byrd were in the middle of a summer clean out — Mitzi was organizing her daughter’s closet while Jeff drove a load of garments to their local church for donation. Just two minutes after departing from his house in Laurinburg, North Carolina, Jeff’s phone went off. It was Parker’s girlfriend, Alaina.
What Jeff heard on the other line made him veer his 2021 Cadillac Escalade in a U-turn and speed straight back toward his house. Mitzi heard a door slam and immediately knew something was wrong from the tone of her husband’s bellowing voice.
Topping out at 110 mph, Jeff weaved down I-95, flashing his lights to warn others of his urgency. Jeff was driving so recklessly that he popped a tire, delaying their trip as they pulled over and got it replaced. The repair shop employees fixed it as fast as a NASCAR pit crew, Jeff recalled.
“All I’m thinking is, ‘Parker’s going down there and I’m never going to see him again.’”
ECU head baseball coach Cliff Godwin was the first person to arrive at the ECU Health Medical Center. During a recruiting visit that afternoon, Godwin’s Apple Watch pinged him nonstop until he finally checked the caller ID. As soon as he saw it was Jeff, Godwin excused himself to take the call, then rushed the five-minute route from the baseball facility to the hospital. There, he was joined by Alaina, Parker’s teammates who had accompanied him on the boat and, eventually, the Byrds themselves.
Parker was in surgery for five hours. As the surgeons emerged from the operating room, Jeff asked the only thing he knew mattered to his son — if baseball was out of the picture. An almost automated response from the surgeon followed:
