At the start of the season, Alabama WR Ryan Williams has had a rough go of it due to a concussion. However, nothing can compare to a moment that changed his life forever, when he and his mother survived a horrific car accident.
Something he and his mother share in candid detail, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. It happened on May 20, 2018. 11-year-old Williams, his mother Tiffany Coleman, and his young cousin were driving from church to a hair appointment Tiffany had scheduled.
“We were jammin’ in the car to this Drake song,” Coleman said.
Afterward, they came across a sharp turn and encountered a dually truck in their lane.
“When I swerved to try and get out of the truck’s way, we ended up losing control of the car,” Coleman said. “We were spinning. Probably like three times.”
Ultimately, Coleman's Mitsubishi Lancer crashed into a telephone pole.
“Before the car hit a pole, I’m assuming that Ryan reached over to protect me because once the car hit the pole and we stopped, there was a big spot where a head hit the windshield,” she said. “I’m looking down on me and I had no blood on me. My little cousin was in the car and screamed RYAN! He had blood leaking from the right side of his face. He was trying to protect us.”
Coleman was pregnant at the time and in her third trimester.
“I was just trying to protect my mom, Williams said. “She was pregnant. I unbuckled my seatbelt and tried to get in front of her. My face hit the windshield.”
Neighbors across the street came out to help as Williams was bleeding from his injuries. Nobody else was injured as a result of the accident.
The accident changed Ryan Williams' outlook on life
Ultimately, Williams sustained a hole in his ear and cuts and had to get a skin graft. Six weeks later, he had the bandages removed from his head. Ironically, the accident occurred on the one year anniversary of Williams' grandfather Robert C. Williams passing away from cancer.
“The same way everybody says I have this glow, I say I got that from my grandad,” Williams said. “Anything you needed him to do, he did it. He was The Man. I feel like he lives through me. I always have to keep an attitude of gratitude even when everything isn’t going my way.”
Overall, the accident completely alerted the trajectory of his life.
“One thousand percent, it did,” Williams said. “It really gave me a look at things, like nothing’s ever promised to you. I really have to enjoy every single day and make sure to put my best foot forward every single day.”
Even today, Coleman looks closely at her son's scars and says “he wears those scars with pride”.
Today, Williams is one of the highest paid NIL athletes in college sports and is majoring in psychology.
