{"id":85412,"date":"2025-08-29T23:16:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=85412"},"modified":"2025-08-29T23:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:16:34","slug":"chicago-honors-englewood-athlete-who-turned-tragedy-into-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=85412","title":{"rendered":"Chicago honors Englewood athlete who turned tragedy into triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-v-08416276=\"\">\n<p><strong data-v-08416276=\"\">Published<\/strong>\u00a0 August 29, 2025 5:48pm CDT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">\n<div data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<div data-v-fa1f2118=\"\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c107833-mcdn.mp.lura.live\/expiretime=2082787200\/cd79e17b44ef077b35bf8a335b28385e117316f4373cc7bcc666c60b51b13f51\/iupl\/D39\/D92\/D39D92CF79C26D32C6364D2639E0A2BA.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago honors Englewood athlete who turned tragedy into triumph\" data-v-fa1f2118=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\"><strong>CHICAGO<\/strong> &#8211; A young man from Englewood who was paralyzed as a child is defying the odds in pursuit of his basketball dreams.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Martrell Stevens, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, has played wheelchair basketball across the world and will be honored before Friday\u2019s White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">His path was not easy. At age 4, Stevens was struck by a stray bullet in Englewood, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Two years later, he picked up wheelchair basketball and never looked back.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Since then, Stevens has traveled internationally, collected numerous medals and been named Illinois\u2019 most valuable player.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">He earned a Bachelor\u2019s degree in recreation, sport and tourism and is now pursuing a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">Back in Chicago, Stevens has focused on giving back. This week, he handed out school supplies to local children.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">With help from community activists Andrew Holmes and Lisette Guillen of Case Files Chicago, he was recognized by Mayor Brandon Johnson and presented with a basketball signed by Chicago Bulls guard Coby White.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">&#8220;Being in a wheelchair has given me a different perspective on life. I&#8217;m just super grateful for my opportunities that I have, realizing that you need to keep going and keep striving. I&#8217;m in my first year in the master&#8217;s program at U of Illinois, continuing my education. I hope to start a nonprofit in the future to help give back to the communities I grew up in,&#8221; Stevens said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">On Friday, Stevens will take the field to receive a White Sox jersey ahead of the first pitch.<\/p>\n<p data-v-4fbf7207=\"\"><b data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source:<\/b> The information in this article was reported by FOX 32&#8217;s Kasey Chronis.<\/p>\n<section data-v-7f0a623e=\"\">EnglewoodNews<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A young man from Englewood who was paralyzed as a child is defying the odds in pursuit of his basketball dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":85413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1629,1979,3368,1978,108,1882],"class_list":["post-85412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago","tag-cook-county","tag-englewood","tag-il","tag-news","tag-us"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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