The last time Corey Borner's mother, Charlotte Borner, saw him running was on the morning of May 6, 2009. "You miss that bus, I'm not taking you to school," she warned him as the then-16-year-old sprinted to catch the school bus. Little did they know that just hours later, a routine football practice session at Corey's Dallas-area high school would turn his life upside down. Trying to earn a spot on the varsity team for the following season, the freshman cornerback had given his all to spring practices in DeSoto, Texas, and on that fateful day, urged his coach to keep it going. "One more play," he told the coach, Corey recalled.
As "Deuce 84 P-Bubble and Up" was called as the final play of practice, the teen lowered his head and dived at the wide receiver's stomach to tackle him to the ground. However, when his teammates came over to congratulate him on the hit, Corey asked them not to touch him. He couldn't feel anything from his head to his feet and as he lay motionless on the field at DeSoto High School, he had one thought run through his mind over and over again: "God, be with me."
