Thunder announcer calls teen ‘an inspiration’
The new TV play-byplay announcer for the Oklahoma City Thunder has something in common with a Newcastle teen recovering from a nearfatal car accident. They are both survivors. The Thunder’s Chris Fisher also was in a car accident while in high school, just like Caleb Freeman, 17, whose pickup collided with a tractortrailer in December 2017 as he headed to a University of Oklahoma men’s basketball game.
Fisher damaged his spinal cord near the base of his neck during his accident, while Caleb suffered a severe brain injury. Fisher initially was paralyzed from the shoulders down, and some doctors said he would never walk again and might possibly need continuous care for the remainder of his life. Caleb’s parents were told that if Caleb lived, he likely would never walk again.
The two accident survivors had an opportunity to meet when Caleb attended a recent Thunder game as a guest of the NBA franchise.
The Rev. Jeremy Freeman, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Newcastle, has chronicled his son’s remarkable recovery and continued progress on the family’s “Pray for Caleb” Facebook page.
The preacher said the encounter with Fisher was great.
“He and Caleb have both overcome the odds and were able to swap stories,” Freeman said.
Fisher recently spoke about his visit with Caleb, whom he called an “inspiration.” The following interview has been edited for clarity.
Q: When did you realize that you and Caleb Freeman had much in common?
A: I had heard about Caleb’s story earlier this year when I first joined the Thunder. Someone had reached out and given me a little background into his story and sort of his remarkable recovery and mentioned that he was potentially coming to some Thunder games throughout the season.
Q: What went through your mind when you met Caleb?
A: The first thing that goes through your head is, ‘Boy, he’s been through a lot.’ When you know
that somebody has experienced something like that, you not only are feeling for what they’re going through but also how much he has been able to overcome in his recovery and how much he has been able to achieve despite the circumstances. You sort of admire the fight that he continues to put up every single day despite the adversity. There’s a lot of admiration involved, and he continues to inspire me and a lot of people given what he’s been able to accomplish thus far.
Q: How did your meeting with him go? Were there things you knew in advance that you wanted to share with Caleb or did you just want to get to know him?
A: It was more along the lines of us just meeting and kind of just exchanging a little bit of what we’d experienced and connecting on that wave length, knowing that the two of us had been in a car accident and had to face life challenges at an early age and really what we both sort of had to do to get to overcome those circumstances. He comes from a very wonderful family, and I had an opportunity to meet with his father. They are just really, really good people, positive people I was really lucky to come across. They just continue to make progress in the right direction and support Caleb. He’s an inspiration to me. If there’s a way I can somehow give back to him in any possible way, that was something that was important, too.
Q: What got you though those difficult days in the aftermath of your car accident?
A: For one, I was very fortunate that I had a tremendous amount of support from people, particularly my family and my friends, who just created this really solid foundation that I could just focus on my recovery and my rehabilitation. It was a pretty trying time with a pretty steep hill to climb and without them, I certainly wouldn’t be in the position I am today. They were critical throughout my recovery, and they’ve been critical throughout my career.
Q: You said you see Caleb as an inspiration, but I bet he sees you as an inspiration. What would you say to that?
A: I think whenever you sort of have a similar experience in a lot of the same ways, you sort
of connect on a different wavelength. Obviously, the two of them (experiences) are not identical, but there are enough parallels — you’re at a young age and you’re hit with this tremendous amount of adversity unexpectedly — you just have to sort of chart your course and find your way through it.
I know that he’s facing things that I didn’t face, and vice versa, but the common denominator is your life is a little more difficult, there’s no doubt about it. So I definitely admire his fight and what he’s going through and I hope that I can sort of show him that ‘Hey, look, we have a lot of life left to live.’ You can still attack life and get a lot out of life despite the circumstances and despite the difficult challenges that you’re facing.