Conditions + Treatments
Hip Replacement
Mako Technology
Early Roots and a Life of Service
I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, but my world expanded quickly when I joined the U.S. Army as a young man. Service became part of my identity. I moved often, deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013, and later settled in Huntsville, Alabama, where I continued serving in the Army National Guard.
Huntsville is where my family put down roots and where another big part of my life took shape: coaching kids on the ballfield. I became deeply involved in youth athletics, coaching baseball and softball and eventually serving as President at American League Park. The ballpark became my second home, a place where I could pour into my son, my daughters, and a whole community of kids.
What most people at the field didn’t see, though, was the battle going on inside my body.
The Blast That Changed Everything
During my deployment, my unit was hit by an IED. I was a gunner in the back of a Stryker when the explosion hit with a force I’ll never forget. It bent my back over the backside of the truck in a way no human spine should bend.
Not long after, we were hit again, this time by a vehicle-borne IED while on foot patrol. The blast threw us backward. I walked away from those attacks alive, but not unchanged. Over time, doctors discovered disc compressions and fractures in my spine.
At first, I tried to push through it the way most soldiers do. I told myself it was just part of the job, part of the cost. But the pain kept growing, day after day, year after year, and it began to shape every part of my life.
A Body Breaking Down and a Spirit Tested
Back home in Huntsville, I started what felt like an endless cycle of appointments. I saw doctor after doctor. I got steroid injections, cortisone shots, nerve burnings. Each visit came with a little bit of hope that this might finally be the thing that works. It never was.
The pain didn’t just stay in my back. It crept into my hips, especially my left hip. Walking became harder. Standing up became slower. Simple moments like getting out of a chair, climbing a set of stairs turned into challenges I had to psych myself up for.
Then came the moment I’ll never forget. I was coaching my son’s middle school baseball team at Grissom. I went down into a catcher’s stance, something I’d done thousands of times before. But this time, when I tried to stand up, I couldn’t. I was stuck there on the field, in front of my players, my son, other families.
I remember the worry on their faces. I remember the fear in my own. That wasn’t just physical pain anymore. That was the realization that I might be losing the ability to do what I love, not just as a coach, but as a dad.
When I was told it could be years before I could see the right orthopedic specialists and get real help, it felt like someone had shut a door on my future. I wanted to be the man who was active, present, and strong for his family and his players. Instead, I felt like I was slowly being sidelined by my own body.
A Lifeline: Finding Dr. Jeffrey Davis
In the middle of all of this, a friend of mine , a military doctor and a colonel, threw me a lifeline. He told me, “You need to go Andrews Sports Medicine in Birmingham. See if you can schedule an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Davis.”
My wife, Bekah, picked up the phone and called Andrews Sports Medicine. They reviewed my MRIs and X-rays and didn’t brush me off or push me months or years down the line. Instead, they said, “After reviewing your records and diagnostics, Dr. Davis is willing to see you as a patient.”
When I initially met Dr. Davis, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time: real hope. He didn’t minimize my pain or rush through my story. He listened. He understood not just that I was hurting, but how it was affecting my life, my family, and my ability to coach.
He told me the truth: my left hip had deteriorated so badly that I needed a hip replacement, and it was likely a big reason my back hurt so much. Instead of talking about waiting years, he was talking about getting me into surgery in a matter of weeks. After everything I’d been through, that kind of urgency felt almost unreal.
Surgery, Prayer, and a New Kind of Care
The care I received at Andrews Sports Medicine felt different from the start. The doctors, nurses, and staff treated me like a person, not a chart. They were kind, patient, and reassuring, but also confident. I needed all of that.
Before my first surgery on November 17, 2025 Dr. Davis came into the room and went over the plan again. Then he asked me something that hit me right in the heart: he asked if he could pray with me.
In that moment, right before going under, that prayer meant everything. It calmed me. It reminded me that I wasn’t alone - that I had a surgeon who cared about more than just the technical details of my case. He cared about me as a whole person.
The surgery went smoothly. And then, almost before I could fully process it, something remarkable happened: just two weeks later, I was walking unassisted on my left side. Pain that had been my constant companion for years was suddenly gone in that hip.
Dr. Davis then told me that my right hip was also badly damaged and recommended we replace it too. My first thought was, “What about baseball and softball season? What about my kids? My teams?” But he worked me into the schedule, and on December 17, 2025 I had my right hip replaced. I went home the same day, and the staff and Dr. Davis checked in with me regularly, making sure I was healing and staying on track.
The Comeback: From Surviving to Truly Living
Today, I can say something I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to say again: I am pain free in both hips. My back feels better than it has in years. I can walk, move, and coach without wincing, without leaning on a cane, without wondering if I’m about to collapse in front of my players.
I’m back on the field where I belong, coaching baseball and softball, running practices, and being fully present for my son and my daughters. I’m not just surviving anymore. I’m living.
At my last appointment, my wife said something that really sums up how we feel. She told Dr. Davis that if I ever have knee issues or anything else down the road, she hopes he doesn’t retire, because he’s the only one we’ll ever go to. That’s how much trust we have in him and in the team at Andrews Sports Medicine.
My story is a comeback story, but it’s also a gratitude story. I went from wondering if I’d spend the rest of my life limited by pain to waking up each day able to do what I love—with my family, at the ballpark, and in my community.
Thanks to Dr. Davis and everyone at Andrews Sports Medicine, I’ve been given something priceless: my life back.
