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@sbterry247: Unbelievable story on D.J. Fluker and what he's overcome by a poster on the Round Table (free) http://t.co/TuYf5Pog
For those familiar with different people around the 'net, this is posted by signusup.
A quick synopsis for you that really doesn't put into perspective what DJ and his siblings have been through or how successful all of these kids are:
When Katrina hit, the family was living in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans. As everyone knows, this area was rocked hard from flood waters. DJ and his brother, two sisters and mother were forced at the VERY last minute to pile in a relatives van that would barely crank and head to Alabama to get away. They left behind everything but clothes.
They ended up in Mobile and crammed into a one bedroom place with some cousins to live temporarily. The kids had to get back in school, and McGill-Toolen had decided to relax their poilcies for all Hurricane evacuees and scholarship in kids that qualified under those guidelines. So DJ ended up playing at McGill.
With no father in the picture and mom not holding down a job, the family moved back to Mississippi to try and find their own place and the kids started school in the Biloxi area. I won't go into detail about their living arrangements or family obstacles, but I will just say they were about as bad as you can imagine.
Most people don't know that DJ played most of his junior year with an injured shoulder. Unhappy with medical advise and coaching in Mississippi, but particularly with the living conditions they were under at home, the family moved back to Alabama.
There is NO huge conspiracy here. There was a great family in Mobile that helped out the Flukers upon their original stay in Alabama and McGill, as many of the people provided aid and friendship to the evacuees and their families. But when moving back, McGill's policies on enrollment were back to normal and DJ was not able to receive a scholarhship to school under normal policies. (McGill is a private Catholic school in Mobile for those who don't know.)
So, the family headed farther south to Foley and set up shop for the summer before DJ's senior season. A friend of the family in Mobile spoke with a friend in Foley who knew nothing about the family history or DJ playing football, they just knew the family needed help. Again, a family in Baldwin County and much of the community helped the Flukers get settled and allowed DJ to finish out his senior year at Foley High School. He would later have surgery on a torn rotator cuff in April, just before graduation, due to injuries in Mississippi that eventually caught up with him.
Flash forward to Tuscaloosa and DJ at the University of Alabama. (His brother Leon is also as smart as they come, recepient of the Bryant-Jordan scholarship, and is a rising junior at the University, much taller than DJ, and doesn't play a lick of sports.)
When the tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa and the surrounding communities, DJ, fortunately, was at the Athletic Complex. His department was destroyed and everything he had acquired over the past few years from clothes, games, bed, couch, etc... was destroyed. GONE! Poof! Ever tried to find a size 22 shoe in the store?
So basically, this whole family, not just DJ, has overcome some tremendous adversity. His sisters are now in high school and both are just as smart as their brother and will definitely be successful in life. DJ has always looked after them and no doubt this April, will be taking care of his family like he always wanted to do.
My story doesn't do them justice, but I hope it gives you a glimpse of what an accomplishment this is and what a real survival story is all about.
For those familiar with different people around the 'net, this is posted by signusup.
A quick synopsis for you that really doesn't put into perspective what DJ and his siblings have been through or how successful all of these kids are:
When Katrina hit, the family was living in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans. As everyone knows, this area was rocked hard from flood waters. DJ and his brother, two sisters and mother were forced at the VERY last minute to pile in a relatives van that would barely crank and head to Alabama to get away. They left behind everything but clothes.
They ended up in Mobile and crammed into a one bedroom place with some cousins to live temporarily. The kids had to get back in school, and McGill-Toolen had decided to relax their poilcies for all Hurricane evacuees and scholarship in kids that qualified under those guidelines. So DJ ended up playing at McGill.
With no father in the picture and mom not holding down a job, the family moved back to Mississippi to try and find their own place and the kids started school in the Biloxi area. I won't go into detail about their living arrangements or family obstacles, but I will just say they were about as bad as you can imagine.
Most people don't know that DJ played most of his junior year with an injured shoulder. Unhappy with medical advise and coaching in Mississippi, but particularly with the living conditions they were under at home, the family moved back to Alabama.
There is NO huge conspiracy here. There was a great family in Mobile that helped out the Flukers upon their original stay in Alabama and McGill, as many of the people provided aid and friendship to the evacuees and their families. But when moving back, McGill's policies on enrollment were back to normal and DJ was not able to receive a scholarhship to school under normal policies. (McGill is a private Catholic school in Mobile for those who don't know.)
So, the family headed farther south to Foley and set up shop for the summer before DJ's senior season. A friend of the family in Mobile spoke with a friend in Foley who knew nothing about the family history or DJ playing football, they just knew the family needed help. Again, a family in Baldwin County and much of the community helped the Flukers get settled and allowed DJ to finish out his senior year at Foley High School. He would later have surgery on a torn rotator cuff in April, just before graduation, due to injuries in Mississippi that eventually caught up with him.
Flash forward to Tuscaloosa and DJ at the University of Alabama. (His brother Leon is also as smart as they come, recepient of the Bryant-Jordan scholarship, and is a rising junior at the University, much taller than DJ, and doesn't play a lick of sports.)
When the tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa and the surrounding communities, DJ, fortunately, was at the Athletic Complex. His department was destroyed and everything he had acquired over the past few years from clothes, games, bed, couch, etc... was destroyed. GONE! Poof! Ever tried to find a size 22 shoe in the store?
So basically, this whole family, not just DJ, has overcome some tremendous adversity. His sisters are now in high school and both are just as smart as their brother and will definitely be successful in life. DJ has always looked after them and no doubt this April, will be taking care of his family like he always wanted to do.
My story doesn't do them justice, but I hope it gives you a glimpse of what an accomplishment this is and what a real survival story is all about.
