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.

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.