It's Not The Initial Blow, But The Bounce We Should Be Mindful Of

We lost another young man recently and it has had a huge impact on the sports world. The world just keeps getting to us on the daily and it seems like each of us are trying our best to hold on but sometimes it gets hard. We lost 24 year old Kyren Lacy to a gunshot wound. He shot himself in a suicide due to things going on while he was being pursued by police. Kyren was in line to face grand jury two days before his death due to an automobile accident in which he crashed and killed a 78 year old. He immediately fled the scene without calling emergency services or the police department which was huge. Lacey turned himself in a couple days after.

This occurred in December 2024 and he was charged with a lot of offenses like negligent homicide and a hit and run. He was due to face trial April 14th which was 2 days before he took his own life with a gunshot wound. It is very sad and prayers up to his family and all his loved ones. Emmanuel Acho a huge sports figure shared a powerful quote that I wanted to touch on. He gave an example of a skydiving instructor who talked about how when your parachute fails to open it's not the initial blow that kills but the bounce. Of course your bones may fracture but the bounce after is what kills. The bones having an impact on your lungs and other parts off your body is what kills.

Basically the long term impact is what will bring us down. "If anyone you know hits the ground hard, catch them before the bounce". We have to let them know we're there for them and whatever they may be going through is not the end. We all hit the ground hard and go through struggles in our personal lives but the bounce which is the action we partake in after is what will impact us going forward. How we react to diversity and the actions after is what will decide everything.

Kyren hit the ground hard and had lost all hope of his life going forward. He declared for the upcoming NFL draft and was projected to be drafted but because of the accident he probably wouldn't have been drafted and would have to serve jail time. These charges were intense but that was just the blow. The bounce which was his suicide is what made more impact. His life was still worth living no matter what and even if he was sentenced to jail for a certain number of years, he would be released and do something to change his life for the better. No matter how hard we hit the ground it is not over till the bounce because that is what makes the most impact. Shoutout to Emmanuel Acho for this wisdom and RIP to Kyren Lacy.