To the end, a man felled by hatred rose above it

To the end, a man felled by hatred rose above it

Darryl Williams spread a message of compassion and showed no bitterness about the gunshot that paralyzed him.

(Sean Dougherty/ Globe Staff/ File 2001)


By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist / March 29, 2010


Toughest guy I ever knew.

Darryl had every reason to complain and hate. And yet he never complained and he never hated.

Our city was five years into school desegregation and tensions were still running high when Williams and his mostly-black Jamaica Plain teammates went to Charlestown for a high school football game Sept. 28, 1979. Darryl, a sophomore, had just caught his first varsity pass and was standing in the end zone with his teammates at halftime when he was felled by a bullet in the back of the neck. The shot came from a projects rooftop across the street. Three beered-up white teens later said they were shooting at pigeons, but everybody knew what they were really doing. Mayor Kevin White immediately said the crime was “racially motivated.’’ Three days later, Pope John Paul II prayed for Darryl on Boston Common.

The bullet changed everything for Williams. It made him a quadriplegic. It put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life — a life that ended unexpectedly of respiratory failure at his home south of Boston yesterday morning.

What a life.

Darryl was a motivational speaker, spreading the message of forgiveness and compassion. He also had a job with the Massachusetts State Lottery and served as an outreach specialist for Northeastern’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. He earned a bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Northeastern. He was forever speaking to young people, and in 2008 accepted The Sports Museum’s Special Achievement Award at the Tradition at the Garden.

“I made peace with my situation long ago,’’ Darryl said. “I understand where hostility and ignorance come from and I’m able to rise above it. Ultimately it has a lot to do with knowing that other people look to me for inspiration. They get inspiration and strength from me and that makes me feel honored.’’

more...

http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/football/articles/2010/03/29/darryl_williams_shooting_victim_who_rose_above_hatred_dead_at_46/

I hope his attackers have suffered pangs of guilt ever since; but people like that often have no conscience.

If we could all be so 'big' maybe this world would be a better place.


Is this the name the President mentioned last night in Afghanistan?

And that is how a patriot lives his or her life. RIP. I've found a new name to add to my list of heros. Thank you.