A homerun comeback story

East Carolina University baseball player Parker Byrd's first collegiate hit was a dream years in the making. As the athlete safely reached base during the team's March 14 game against William & Mary, the stands went wild; his team rushed the field to celebrate the accomplishment.

It wasn't because Parker hit a home run or won the game for ECU. They were all celebrating a more personal battle—he had just become one of the only Division I players with a prosthetic leg to ever get a hit.

Let’s rewind: Parker’s life has revolved around baseball as long as he can remember. The talented athlete was recruited to play for ECU when he was only a freshman in high school. By the time his senior year rolled around, he was ranked the second-best shortstop in North Carolina.

• "Baseball has always been my dream," Parker said. "It’s always been what I knew I wanted to do. There’s never really been a doubt in that aspect of life.”

That all changed in the summer of 2022, however, when Parker suffered from a boating accident that left him in critical condition. While his doctors and quick medical intervention saved his life, Parker was forced to make the impossible decision to either stay on his current treatment plan and risk infection or amputate his right leg below the knee.

• He went forward with the amputation, thinking he had kissed his baseball career goodbye.

However, his mom encouraged him to keep going. And a few years later, The Challenged Athletes Foundation gifted Parker a top-of-the-line Össur prosthetic, which allowed him to run, bat, and pitch without assistance.

• 20+ surgeries and years of rehab later, Parker was finally ready to step up to the plate. 
• Today, he is one of the only players with a prosthetic to play on a Division 1 team.

Looking ahead...On top of his love for baseball, Parker has found joy and confidence in being an inspiration for other amputees and handicapped athletes. He’s started booking speaking engagements and created a podcast, The Parker Byrd Show, to share his and others’ motivational stories.

Next up, he hopes to play for the Savannah Bananas, a team that infuses a dance performance element into baseball, and one day compete in the Paralympics.