Tyres Dickson- grants

Tyres Dickson shares his story in an oral history podcast.

Tyres Dickson Story

My name is Tyres Dickson, a proud member of the T-Association, via the football class of 1997. On 3/22/1998, my life shifted. As I slept in the back seat on my way back to the University of Texas for spring training, a drunk driver t -boned the car, leaving me paralyzed for life.

As a 20-year-old trying to figure out how to cope with this unfortunate accident, I was determined to make something positive happen. I relied on faith and the culture I learned during my brief tenure as a student-athlete at the University of Texas. Be that as it may, I chose “Texas Fight” as my rallying cry, having spent decades in recovery.

In 2009, Goodwill Industries hired me, and as one of their spokesmen, I told my story of staying positive and persevering through much adversity. I received Goodwill International’s Achiever of the Year Award for a job well done. Shortly after, I was bedridden from 2013 to 2018, including eleven different hospitals and over fifteen surgeries/procedures. I was finally declared healed. This was a bittersweet moment for me. Even though I had recovered enough to leave the hospital, I could not resume employment because the physical toll of years of surgeries had made it difficult for me to sit up for any extended period.

Since I could not work, the medical bills piled up, and I didn’t know where to turn. My situation consumed me. Then, via social media, I was contacted by TLSN (Texas Legacy Support Network), seeking updates on my condition. I conveyed my situation to the Members of the Board, and without hesitation, they offered me temporary financial assistance in the form of a grant from the TLSN non-profit.

I am so proud that such a program exists within the Longhorn family. Texaslsn.org is a symbol of the dedication, care, and support we, as Longhorns, have for one another. Their compassion confirms “What Starts Here Changes the World.” TLSN changed my world from stark and dark to hope and light. Adversity is fluid. There’s no way to know which former, current, or future University of Texas athlete will find themselves later in life in need of a helping hand. Yet, it’s awe-inspiring to have an organization such as TLSN. An organization that drives home the point that all former Longhorn student-athletes, no matter the sport, gender, race, or era, share a common bond in this magnificent institution we call the University of Texas.

Sincerely,

On March 22, 1998, I was home on spring break from the University of Texas, where I was blessed enough to earn a full-ride athletic scholarship as a football player.

I fell asleep in the back of a car that my childhood friend was driving. A drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned the car I was in, sending us careening in oncoming traffic where we were hit again.

I woke up in the hospital three weeks later to find that my career was over and that I was paralyzed.

I felt that I had two options: I could quit and give up on life or I could do something positive and try to live. Well, though two-thirds of my body lacked life, I chose to live.

I spent a year-and-a-half in the hospital and a total term of eight months in rehab learning how to live in this new state, including cooking, music therapy, and using my computer skills.

I then spent the next 11 years refining and fine-tuning my skills in music as a producer, also songwriting and doing instrumentation that I would copyright and sell to artists all over the nation.

Then, three days before Christmas someone broke into my house and stole all of my equipment, leaving me with another choice on which way to go in life. After my accident and the break-in, I was somewhat leery of the character of man. Goodwill made me realize there were still people in the world that truly cared about helping others.

 

But the choice was already made years previous. I kept my faith and later, a friend named Dick Taylor who had known me from UT and who made numerous hospital visits contacted me through my music company website to touch base, after a 10-year period where we’d lost contact. It was truly a blessing. I told him what had happened and, the good friend he is, he wanted to help.

Unbeknownst to me he was also friends with Goodwill Industries of Houston President and CEO Steve Lufburrow and scheduled a meeting with the three of us to discuss any possibilities there may be. Mr. Lufburrow eagerly wanted to help me and looked to bring me to Goodwill.

I came to be in the transportation department, where I was able to use my computer and planning skills. Goodwill taught me how to translate my football skills into a job setting. It was a boost to my confidence and to my independence.

Three years later I was moved to an auto donor coordinator and dispatcher with the ultimate respect for Goodwill.

With the help of Goodwill, I am now able to fully accept God’s will for my life and future. I hope to help pay it forward by being an inspiration for others through telling my story to whoever will listen.

“As long as something positive comes out of this whole thing, then I’m fine,” he said. “As long as more positive than the bad that happened to me, then I’m OK.”

Tyres says a couple of weeks after he won the Goodwill’s International Achiever of the Year in 2013, he was rendered bed ridden, due to a mishap causing a decubitus ulcer during a routine visit to the hospital. After four years in and out of grave health, 15 different hospital and 17 surgeries I was released from the hospital. Though, I am still relegated to spending much of my time in bed, I have recently become healthy enough to get out and move around a bit and trying to put things back together.

As long as something positive comes out of this whole thing, then I’m fine,”

Tyres says about the driver who forever changed his life journey “We all make mistakes, and his mistake was that he was drinking and driving,”

 

Please consider donating to TLSN so we can continue to to fulfill our mission to help individuals like Tyres.   There is a “donate” link in the upper right portion of the page.  Simply click on the link and follow the instructions to complete the donation.   If you prefer to contribute by check, please make the check payable to TLSN and send it to TLSN, 7703 Mesa Drive, Austin, TX. 

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