CENTENNIAL — Xavier Lewis called it an “an out-of-body experience.”
He could see what was happening around him for a couple of scary days, but not say or do anything about it.
On Dec. 10, the world began crumbling for the former Eaglecrest High School star and the 2012 winner of The Denver Post’s Gold Helmet Award as the state’s top senior football player, scholar and citizen.
Lewis, after what he called a tough workout, took a late-day nap at the house the Wyoming sophomore safety was staying in Laramie. When he woke up, he planned to go to the campus library with teammate and roommate Eric Nzeocha. But when Lewis climbed out of bed, he felt lightheaded.
“It was like kind of a joke,” Lewis recalled.
But it soon became apparent there was nothing funny about what was happening.
“I couldn’t control my balance, I was stumbling for no reason and it didn’t feel like it was myself doing it,” Lewis said. “I was sure I could control my balance, but Eric saw me stumbling around, He said, ‘Are you all right?’ I didn’t say anything. I just sat down next to the bed and tried to gather myself. He gave me some water, and I drank it.”
For a few seconds, Lewis felt normal.
“I was going to say, ‘Let’s go to the library.’ But I couldn’t say that. It was like it was a different language. Eric and I were so confused. I thought it was going to come back at any second. I couldn’t get my words out. Then I knew something was wrong. But I couldn’t say that.”
Lewis and his family will be forever grateful that Nzeocha realized the seriousness of what was going on. Not only was Lewis unable to verbally respond, but Nzeocha asked him to try answering with a pen and paper. When he couldn’t, Nzeocha drove his friend to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie.
“It’s something you never anticipate,” said Wyoming football coach Craig Bohl. “And you know what? We’re really fortunate to have players who were trained and had a big impact getting him to the hospital.”
Lewis felt helpless, saying: “I couldn’t give a signal for hospital. Then when (Nzeocha) said hospital, I was, like, ‘Finally!’ “
At Ivinson, Lewis’ inability to speak also made it difficult for anyone to contact his family, but after several attempts he was able to unlock his phone to provide numbers.
Lewis said he was told by medical personnel that he had a stroke and had a “fairly large clot” in the part of his brain that controlled his speech, and his mind raced.
“At that point, I wasn’t sure if I was going to die,” Lewis said. “They left me alone for a while, and I wasn’t understanding what was happening. And I wasn’t sure they would get me out of the (MRI) tube, the longest 45 minutes ever.
“They told me that I had a stroke and I was, like, ‘How could that be? How could I have a stroke?’ “
Said his father, Quentin, “It’s the question everyone had.”
Lewis began crying as the emotions and uncertainty of what was happening hit him.
“And I don’t cry much. It all kicked in,” he said.
He stayed overnight at Ivinson and was airlifted to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood at midnight the next day. He remembers being on the left side of the helicopter, looking out the window.
“I was just kind of freaking out … quietly.”
His father said there has been no history of strokes in his family. Doctors suggested his son may have been insufficiently hydrated.
The clot, Quentin Lewis said, “cut off his blood flow. There was stress, exhaustion, dehydration. … It was really a special scenario.”
In the aftermath, Lewis rested, and slowly began to recover. Within a couple of days, he began to communicate through writing down equations — he correctly penned the formula for velocity — and in another he simply stunned those around him by blurting out, “Hi, I’m Xavier.”
Next, therapists were surprised when they asked him to walk up a few steps. He promptly sprinted up a set.
He was home after two weeks, discharged on Christmas Eve, and those who know him weren’t surprised.
Lewis has since been cleared for all activities, including returning to Wyoming football. However, he’s taking this semester off as he fully recovers. One thing that has yet to return is his regular speech. The engineering student who ranked fifth in his class as a senior at Eaglecrest still struggles a bit to come up with the right word during a conversation. It’s the last part of his recovery.
“He’s a real spiritual kid with a good solid foundation that helps him,” said Eaglecrest football coach Mike Schmitt. “He doesn’t mind taking on a challenge, and that always has been his personality.”
Lewis, who started Wyoming’s last two games of the 2014 season, hopes to return to Laramie by April to get reacclimated with school and living on his own. He can do everything he did before his stroke save for speaking like he did, but he has been assured his speech will return to normal.
And, yes, he plans to play football again.
Bohl respects his safety’s smarts, but said “we’re really just concerned about his well-being. For the timeline, I don’t think anybody really knows. Xavier has great drive and initiative to do great things.”
Lewis’ father said his son’s recovery and attitude is “why I call him my hero. I don’t know how I would have reacted in a situation like that. It’s kind of tough to see for us, being Christian. What am I meant to do? It’s tough. Now, there’s a clear path to show people the faith, hope and education. There’s a lot to it as an athlete.”
All Xavier Lewis wants to do is get back to normal, and be able to talk about it.
“I want to speak publicly about my experience and how to offer prevention,” he said. “I want to help as much as I can and I want to speak effectively.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
