Six-year-old Asher Daws is an Alabama football fan. Last week, the Hartselle boy caught a pass from a Crimson Tide quarterback and stood alongside the team at midfield.
Make-A-Wish Alabama arranged the visit, which included a tour of the football facilities Thursday and the pregame coin toss before Saturday’s game against Texas A&M at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Hartselle Enquirer reported that Asher’s mother, Mary Katherine Daws, received an email about two months earlier asking whether he would like to participate.
“He was so happy to be there,” she told the outlet.
For Asher, a Crestline Elementary School student, the invitation brought a chance to meet players and coaches from his favorite team. For his mother, it meant watching her son enjoy an experience far removed from the medical challenges he has faced.
Asher was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. He has undergone three open-heart surgeries, the first when he was 9 days old.
His mother said he is doing well now, although he will likely need a heart transplant as he gets older.
Former Alabama defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, now a director of player development for the Crimson Tide, helped welcome the family to Tuscaloosa. During Thursday’s tour, he showed Asher and his mother the weight room, locker room and treatment areas before they watched the end of practice.
Asher met head coach Kalen DeBoer and several players and coaches. Quarterback Keelon Russell even threw him a pass, which Asher ran in for a touchdown.
His mother said Asher quickly connected with Clinton-Dix.
“He made it so very special for us,” she told the Enquirer.
Clinton-Dix also helped when the excitement became overwhelming Saturday. The noise from the pregame flyover frightened Asher, and his mother held him in her lap while he covered his ears. Clinton-Dix came over to comfort him and helped him smile again.
There were smiles for the television cameras, too. Although initially nervous about taking the field, Asher waved when the cameras turned his way.
The football visit followed another special experience through Make-A-Wish Alabama this year. Earlier, Asher and his family traveled to Walt Disney World, with friends and supporters gathering at the Hartselle Wendy’s to celebrate before their departure.
Players gave Asher souvenirs from his Alabama visit: a football bearing their signatures and gloves from two members of the team.
He also had a touchdown of his own to remember.
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
