Edwin grew up playing soccer competitively for the Junior Olympic team and for his high school team right outside of Dallas, TX. Although he had a ton of success in soccer, Edwin’s true passion was football, where he went to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor to play as their kicker. Winning the conference championship all 4 years, Edwin started for 2 of those years and eventually graduated in 2014 with a degree in exercise physiology. He found a passion for training and continued his education where he received a Masters in exercise physiology.
After college Edwin worked for a cardiac rehab facility, then in corporate wellness, and finally opening his own gym. As he was getting ready for PA school, Edwin took a weekend off work to visit his family's lake house with friends. Just as he had done for countless summers, Edwin dove off the end of his dock where he hit his head on a rock and was immediately paralyzed. Edwin hadn’t known that they had emptied water out of the dam earlier that day and it was only four feet deep. He laid fully conscious underwater for three and a half minutes before his friends found him and got him back onshore.
Edwin spent five weeks in the ICU before he was diagnosed as a quadriplegic and told that he would never be able to feed himself again. He then went to inpatient rehab in Waco and had a second surgery to stabilize his neck. Since December of 2018, Edwin has been determined to not let this injury define the trajectory of his life.
Edwin had been rehabbing at a center that focused on spinal cord injuries until it closed this past year, where he found ATF and had been personally training with an ATF trainer in preparation for Class 19. Edwin is dedicated to building full-body strength in order to take back his independence and competing in adaptive sports. Edwin is a leader at heart and eventually wants to open up his own gym for those with spinal cord injuries. He is currently building one out of his house and is excited to learn more about his own injury so that he can help others like him.
