Category: CNN Regional

By Adriana Gonzalez-Chavez

Click here for updates on this story

    LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As the valley continues through one of the hottest stretches of the summer, one east Las Vegas family says they’ve been without a working air conditioner for more than two weeks.

Elizabeth Durell, who is eight months pregnant, says the conditions inside her apartment at Pacific Harbors Sunrise have become increasingly difficult for her family as temperatures outside continue climbing well above 100 degrees.

“It’s been rough not being able to cook at home, spending extra money at restaurants because you turn your oven on and it’s 109 degrees in your house, even after it’s already 83 degrees,” Durell said.

The Durell family says they first started having air conditioning problems on July 17.

As they prepare for the arrival of their newest baby, Durell says the heat inside the apartment has made even simple daily tasks harder to manage.

“Especially with toddlers and especially with the one-and-a-half-year-old who is close to still at risk for SIDS, it’s not something you want to deal with,” she said.

From bottles and toys to preparing clothes and car seats for the baby’s arrival, Durell says the family has been trying to manage while living in temperatures ranging from 83 to 86 degrees indoors.

“You know, I’m trying to clean the car seats, clean the clothes; running a dryer heats your house, and it’s just — nothing’s getting done perfectly right now,” she said.

According to the family, apartment management offered to discount up to $200 from next month’s rent if they purchased a portable air conditioning unit themselves.

However, Howard Durell says the family could not afford the upfront cost.

“We’re in a three-bedroom and those little portable ACs that you can get for $200 are small,” he said. “We didn’t have that, and I let them know that.”

Clark County is currently experiencing a prolonged heat wave, with temperatures remaining in the triple digits for weeks.

Howard Durell says the situation has left him feeling helpless as he worries about his pregnant wife and children.

“It’s feeling really, like, you get this sense that you’re powerless,” he said.

The family says they were eventually able to borrow a portable AC unit from a neighbor, but conditions inside the apartment are still difficult.

“We have no fan, no AC in our room because we’re worried about our kids, so we have a fan blowing, that’s it,” Howard Durell said.

As the family waits for repairs and prepares for the birth of their baby in the coming weeks, Elizabeth Durell says she’s doing everything she can to stay healthy and cool during the ongoing heat wave.

Clark County is currently experiencing a prolonged heat wave, with temperatures remaining in the triple digits for weeks.

Howard Durell says the situation has left him feeling helpless as he worries about his pregnant wife and children.

“It’s feeling really, like, you get this sense that you’re powerless,” he said.

The family says they were eventually able to borrow a portable AC unit from a neighbor, but conditions inside the apartment are still difficult.

“We have no fan, no AC in our room because we’re worried about our kids, so we have a fan blowing, that’s it,” Howard Durell said.

As the family waits for repairs and prepares for the birth of their baby in the coming weeks, Elizabeth Durell says she’s doing everything she can to stay healthy and cool during the ongoing heat wave.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Mike Castellucci

Click here for updates on this story

    ELIZABETH, Colorado (KMGH) — Candice Ensign hasn’t taken a day off in years. The promise she made to more than 100 horses won’t let her.

Ensign runs Journey with Equus, a horse rescue on her ranch in Elizabeth, Colorado. She made a commitment to each animal in her care — including Othello, a horse surrendered by his previous owner — that they are safe.

“This has always been my path and if I don’t stand in the gap, who is?” Ensign said.

Ensign has been on the back of a horse since she was 3 years old. She was bullied in elementary school and junior high, and says the outside world sometimes didn’t understand what it meant to be adopted. The horses were her refuge.

“I didn’t go home and cry about it, because I had the horses. They loved me no matter what I looked like,” Ensign said.

Now, she says, science backs up what she experienced as a child.

Journey with Equus is more than a rescue — it is also a place where people come to heal. Ensign regularly brings groups of strangers to her ranch to show them how rescued horses can help them work through their own pain. She calls some of her animals her “healing herds.”

During one recent session, participants experienced quiet, intuitive moments with the horses. One of them, Connie Lamb, wandered over to Othello after the group returned to the barn.

“When I came out today I reached out and he let me pet him and I just started crying uncontrollably,” Lamb said.

Lamb had visited the ranch a few weeks earlier and wanted to connect with Othello, but he was standoffish at the time.

“He was just saying, it’s OK, we’re here to support each other,” Lamb said.

For Ensign, moments like that never get old.

“Some of the miracles we’ve seen in this work, it still brings tears to my eyes when I see it happening,” Ensign said.

But sustaining the operation is a constant challenge. Journey with Equus runs entirely on grassroots support — there are no paid employees. The rescue relies on volunteers and foster homes, and feeding more than 100 horses each morning requires a significant amount of hay and resources.

“There’s never enough funding,” Ensign said.

The heart, though, has never run out.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KMGH verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Karina Vargas

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Since the beginning of summer, lifeguards in San Diego have responded to more than 4,000 water rescues.

Advocates say lifeguards are the first to arrive, jump into danger, and save lives — and should be officially recognized as first responders.

In San Diego, lifeguards are part of the fire-rescue department, responding as first responders to ocean emergencies, cliff rescues, and medical calls. Some retired lifeguards say that the role deserves formal recognition.

Chris Brewster, a retired San Diego lifeguard chief, said the stakes are real.

“There are a lot of instances in which lifeguards put their safety on the line and were injured in the line of duty, as well as there have been lifeguards that have died in the line of duty in California, so it’s definitely a public safety and a first responder job,” Brewster said.

Brewster said the designation carries meaningful legal weight.

“That legislative recognition means that there are protections in state law for first responders,” Brewster said.

The push gained momentum after a teenage lifeguard’s dramatic rescue of a boy caught in powerful surf in Santa Cruz went viral, drawing the attention of state lawmakers.

State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who represents District 38 and whose daughter is a lifeguard in San Diego, is a co-author of a new state resolution urging public agencies to give lifeguards the first responder title.

“Watching that video and knowing what my daughter does, which is exactly what you see in that video, it really makes your heart stop a little bit,” Blakespear said.

Blakespear said the recognition would change how lifeguards are positioned at emergency scenes.

“There’s a hierarchy on the scene of an incident, and they would be at the same level,” Blakespear said.

Blakespear said the next step would be the introduction of a bill that would classify the change of status by law.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KGTV verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Max Goldwasser

Click here for updates on this story

    CARLSBAD, California (KGTV) — A rear-end collision on a Carlsbad freeway off-ramp escalated into a violent road rage attack Sunday night, leaving two people hospitalized and a suspect facing attempted murder charges — and a bystander’s quick thinking helped prevent an already bad situation from getting any worse.

The incident happened just after 7 p.m. Sunday on the Interstate 5 North off-ramp at Tamarack Avenue, when a black Chevy Colorado rear-ended a white Chevy Silverado stopped at the red light. The crash quickly turned violent.

Isaac Mandlawi, owner of Golden Empire USA Builders & Estates, was driving through the area when he passed the scene and sensed something was wrong.

“That wasn’t normal,” Mandlawi said.

Mandlawi says a fist fight broke out between the male passenger of the Silverado and the driver of the black Colorado — now identified as 49-year-old Orlando Query Chavez.

“I saw them fighting on the side, on the right side over here,” Mandlawi said, walking me through the video he took on his phone.

Video captured by a separate witness shows Chavez, with a bloodied face, appearing to punch the female driver of the Silverado.

Mandlawi says her face was “busted.”

About 90 seconds later, California Highway Patrol said Chavez moved to the other side of the truck and stabbed the male passenger several times.

“In that moment, I realized we have to do something about this,” Mandlawi said, with his wife in the passenger seat.

Mandlawi pulled his car into the intersection to block traffic, giving the victims a path to escape. The two drove a few blocks west and stopped their truck on Hibiscus Avenue.

“There was a person on scene over here. I gave them my shirt. They put the shirt over (the man’s) wound,” Mandlawi said.

The male passenger, 27, and the female driver, 22, were both taken to the hospital.

Mandlawi said he got the woman’s contact information before they left and checked in on her Monday.

“They’re feeling a little better. They’re in recovery, but I don’t know the extent of the damages. I mean, it’s, I don’t expect a quick recovery for something like this,” Mandlawi said.

Chavez was located and arrested on attempted murder and assault charges. He is being held without bond and is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday afternoon at the North County Courthouse in Vista.

Mandlawi had a message for others who find themselves in tense situations on the road.

“Take your time, go home. It’s better to wait even 30 minutes and then get to go home and not go home in an ambulance or go home in cuffs,” Mandlawi said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KGTV verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Joey Martin

Click here for updates on this story

    TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KIVI) — Most of the crime scene tape is gone. In its place, a row of American flags and flowers marks where a memorial continues to grow as the Twin Falls community searches for answers in the wake of a shooting.

Dan Beazley drove 27 hours from Michigan to be there — not just to see a crime scene, but to offer something he believes the community needs.

“When she said that we need to turn to God — I knew instantly that was the answer I needed and I jumped in the truck and 27 hours later, I was here,” Beazley said.

Beazley was moved to make the trip after hearing about the Twin Falls shooting and the response from In-N-Out owner Lynsi Snyder. He now stands outside the memorial holding a 10-foot cross, offering what he calls a sign of hope to people he has never met.

“The purpose is to bring hope and healing and love to a community that is hurting probably the most that it’s ever hurt,” Beazley said.

He says this is not his first time answering this kind of call. Beazley estimates he has traveled to between 75 and 100 tragedies across the country, cross in hand.

“It’s not me, it’s him… he’s the one that sent me — I’m purely what is called a lampstand — I’m just holding it up,” Beazley said.

While Beazley works to bring comfort to the community, many Twin Falls residents are still struggling with what took place on Saturday. Crisis counseling is available to help.

In partnership with the FBI, Twin Falls Police, Twin Falls County, and the American Red Cross, counselors are on hand for anyone who needs to talk.

Lori Stewart of the Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office said services have moved to Sawtooth Elementary, where they are now operating as part of the FBI-run Family Assistance Center.

“Today we’re moving to Sawtooth Elementary — the crisis counseling will continue. We’ve moved in to be a part of the Family Assistance Center — which is run by the FBI — there are all kinds of resources there and help to meet any other needs — and then I have counselors set up there today from 10 to 8 and tomorrow from 10 to 8,” Stewart said.

Stewart said many of those showing up are simply trying to make sense of what happened.

“Most people don’t know how to deal with an experience like this — how do we file that in our memories? How do we approach that in our everyday lives?” Stewart said.

She said counselors are there to help the community work through those questions.

“Everybody has been impacted a little bit differently, but our community has been impacted, and we want to be there for everybody,” Stewart said.

Anyone who attends only needs to provide their name. Witnesses to the shooting may be asked to speak with law enforcement and provide a statement. Beyond that, all conversations are confidential and free of charge.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KIVI verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Victoria Rodriguez

Click here for updates on this story

    WEISER, Idaho (KIVI) — The Tartar Fire has burned more than 103,000 acres and is threatening homes and communities around Weiser, with one family describing how they became trapped while trying to escape the flames and feared they wouldn’t make it out alive.

The fire started July 24 but made a massive run late Saturday into Sunday, growing by roughly 80,000 acres overnight. As of Monday, the fire is 11% contained.

Kelly Glenn rushed to help his sister, Carlina Jensen, and her brother-in-law, Josh Beasley, evacuate livestock after learning the fire was moving toward their property. As the fire got closer, the family loaded trailers with animals and opened gates so the rest could escape.

“Loaded what we could, opened up all the fences for everything else, let them run out, um, and then hope that they’d make it through the night,” Jensen said.

Jensen left first with the animals and waited at the bottom of the hill for her brother and her husband. But as they tried to drive out, the fire exploded around them.

“The smoke was just thick. Couldn’t even see the front of the car and then the ash was on the windshield, so it also doubled the, the vision problem,” Glenn said.

Unable to see the road and surrounded by flames, Glenn says they turned around and drove back to the property, where Beasley had already decided to stay and defend the home and surrounding properties.

“I had kind of planned on staying and saving the houses, but I wanted everybody else to go. It got scary when it started getting in here and fences were catching fire and then it started creeping up this little hill,” Beasley said.

With no safe way out, the family says they spent hours battling the flames with hoses, sprinklers and shovels after law enforcement told them crews couldn’t reach them and to fight the fire with whatever they had.

“We was gonna suffocate or, or burn. Um, it was hard to breathe. It was really, really hard to breathe,” Glenn said.

The family successfully saved their home. All of the evacuated and released animals were later accounted for and found safe.

“I don’t have any regrets. If we wouldn’t have stayed, everything I had would have been gone,” Beasley said.

As of Monday afternoon, evacuation orders remain in effect in parts of the area.

For the latest information on the Tartar Fire, follow the Washington County Emergency Management and USWFS Great Basin social media pages for updates on evacuations, fire activity and resources.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. KIVI verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Forrest Sanders

Click here for updates on this story

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) — We know art has the power to heal and give people hope. That’s exactly what’s happening with a show taking on important subjects.

“I’m a photographer, a writer, a painter,” a woman told me who prefers to go by just the name Elle. “Anything that’s within the arts is something that deeply moves me.”

Elle spoke between rehearsals of Fall Productions. A group took the stage, performing aerial dance and contemporary ballet.

“To see what’s going on with me in the body of another through dance, there can’t be anything more moving than that,” Elle said.

“I experienced neglect, emotional abuse as a child, sexual abuse,” Elle continued. “When I was married, I became someone who didn’t know how to deal with my trauma. I started to numb myself with drugs. It effected how I mothered my child.”

As part of Elle’s journey, she came to the Healing Housing non-profit. They give housing and support to women in recovery.

“We have therapists,” Elle said. “We have staff on at all times. Each woman gets to recover in a place that is safe, anonymous.”

Part of what Elle wanted going there was a return to her creativity.

“The writing, the painting, all of those outlets, I stopped every one of them,” she said. “When I lost those, I was in the dark.”

“I feel responsibility for being given the weight of the stewardship of their stories,” said Rebekah Hampton Barger of Fall Productions. “I feel that very strongly.”

Fall Productions is working with the Healing Housing non-profit to create a show running August 7, 8, and 9 at Oz Arts Nashville. It’s called Where We Meet.

In it, dancers perform to recordings of women in recovery. The voices include Elle’s.

“The goal of this project is to build empathy, allow people in the recovery community to see their stories reflected in a way maybe they haven’t been,” Barger said.

“I have found myself again with hope, with love and belief in myself that I never thought possible,” Elle said. “I hope every person who sees this, sees the hope. I’m hopeful, and I’m Elle.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jennifer Kraus

Click here for updates on this story

    SPRINGFIELD, Tennessee (WTVF) — Last week we told you about the man in Robertson County who wound up on the side of a busy road, all day in his wheelchair, with all of his belongings. He’d been a patient at the Waters of Springfield nursing home. After he was sent to the hospital for tests, the nursing home refused to take him back, apparently violating state rules.

And at that same nursing home last week, emergency crews were called after another resident got out a back door in his wheelchair and rolled into a large ditch in front of the facility. The elderly man was taken to the hospital with injuries.

And before all of that, a patient’s sudden death at the Waters earlier this year raises questions as well. That man’s daughter said she doesn’t understand why the Waters of Springfield is still even open.

Olivia Kritsch said, “I cannot describe the way I felt when I first heard the 911 call.”

The 911 dispatcher can be heard asking, “Is he awake and breathing?’

The caller replies, “No.”

“He’s not breathing?” the dispatcher asks again, confirming the patient’s status.

Again, the caller says, “No.”

That 911 call was made early February 5th of this year.

And the man who was neither awake nor breathing was Jay Kritsch. He had been at the Waters of Springfield nursing home for only a couple of weeks, receiving physical therapy. His daughter said he was doing so well, he was about to be released and sent home. But then Kritsch died after falling in his bathroom at the facility.

Olivia Kritsch said from the beginning she felt like what the nursing home was telling her just didn’t add up.

So she began requesting records including that 911 call, made by a nurse at the facility.

“It’s unbelievable. I still feel like I’m in shock,” Kritsch explained.

In that call, the nurse states, “We got somebody in there doing compressions.”

You can hear the dispatcher ask if CPR was being performed.

“So you have CPR in progress?”

“Yes.”

The nurse replies yes, even though she later admits she is nowhere near Kritsch and his bathroom.

“Is there any way you can hang up with me, go to the room where they’re doing CPR, and then call back in?”

“Okay.”

And after the dispatcher tells the nurse to call back when she is actually in the room with Kritsch, we learn… that Kritsch had passed away.

The nurse says simply, “He’s gone.”

The dispatcher then asks, “I’m sorry?” trying to understand the last statement.

The nurse replies, “He’s definitely gone.”

The dispatcher continues, “Is he cold to the touch?”

The nurse then answers, “He is cold to the touch. He’s blue in the face.”

Medical records show Kritsch wanted all lifesaving measures including CPR.

But the state’s investigation into his death found the Waters of Springfield never performed CPR, even though the nurse claimed they had when she called 911.

The nurse can be heard telling the dispatcher at one point, “They stopped CPR once they got him off the toilet. He’s gone.”

In fact the two nursing assistants who we hear supposedly stopped CPR were not certified to do it.

Olivia Kritsch explained, “So the two people left in the room with Dad were not certified and the one that left the room was certified.”

“What do you think about that?” we asked.

“I don’t understand how that happens,” Kritsch said.

And there is more.

According to the state investigation, Kritsch’s roommate pressed his call button between 5:30 and 5:45 that morning after Kritsch went to the bathroom and didn’t come back out.

Facility video footage shows no one responded though until 6:07. State investigators reported that several employees then can be seen going in and out of the room for the next ten minutes.

But no one called 911 until 6:17.

“I just can’t let that go. You [the Waters of Springfield] did not provide the care that you were obligated to provide my father and it’s not okay,” Olivia Kritsch stated.

Regulators fined the Waters of Springfield $26,000 and declared immediate jeopardy, the most severe level of concern following an incident at a nursing home. It meant the facility could not admit any new patients. But not long after, it was back to business as usual.

The administrator of the Waters declined our request for an interview and refused to answer any questions, but said in a statement, “The safety, dignity, and well-being of our residents remain our priority… We remain focused on providing a safe, respectful, and supportive environment for all residents and continuing our day-to-day commitment to quality care.”

“And now you’re committed to quality care? It feels like a slap in the face,” Kritsch responded.

She continued, “There were multiple failures in my dad’s care and I hope that other families can avoid experiencing what we’ve experienced.”

The nursing home told us in its statement, “Individuals associated with the 911 call are no longer employed by the facility.” The woman who was director of nursing at the time, over all of those involved in this incident however is still at the Waters, but I’m told she is now in a different position. And, I’ve just learned that state inspectors showed up again at the Waters Monday. We will be looking for their report and let you know what, if anything, they found.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Aaron Cantrell

Click here for updates on this story

    MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (WTVF) — For more than 30 years, one barbershop owner has been making sure the cost of a haircut does not keep a child from starting school with confidence.

Shawn Moses offers free haircuts to all K-12 students at his A Cut Above the Rest Neighborhood Barbershop locations each back-to-school season — and he said the tradition is about far more than a fresh cut.

“You look good, feel good and act good and you do good,” Moses said.

As back-to-school costs continue to climb, the free cuts provide meaningful relief for families.

Sabrina Jones brought her son Daniel in for a cut and said the savings make a real difference.

“Things that used to be on sale, you don’t catch them on sale anymore. So it’s been difficult to budget for our first needs and then haircuts,” Jones said.

Moses said the impact is especially significant for larger families.

“Families that have three or 4 children, that helps out a great deal when it comes to getting them ready to head back to school,” Moses explained.

For Moses, the mission goes beyond haircuts. He believes raising children is a community effort.

“I know being generous and giving does something for people, when you give to them and love them that way,” Moses said.

He said the relationships he builds in the chair have lasting effects on the children he serves.

“They come back and tell me, ‘Pastor Shawn, my child’s grades went up because of Pastor Shawn’… the barber gave me a good word, a haircut, bought some shoes for me,” Moses added.

Daniel, an 8th grader, said the experience left him feeling ready for the school year.

“It’s amazing. I would definitely come back here and bring some more customers, too,” Daniel said.

For Moses, that kind of confidence is exactly why he keeps the tradition going.

“It’s about giving to them and not expecting anything in return,” Moses said.

Moses offers free haircuts to children multiple times a year. His next event is planned around the holidays.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVF verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Marc Davis

Click here for updates on this story

    VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (WTKR) — A Super Bowl sparked a passion. Now, A.J. Hudson is turning that passion into a legacy.

Hudson, a senior running back and receiver for Frank Cox High School, traces his love of football back to Super Bowl 50, when he was a first grader watching the Denver Broncos take on the Carolina Panthers. By second grade, he was ready to play.

“I first started playing in second grade,” he recalled. “In the fall going into second grade I wanted to try out after me and my friends talked about it. We got on the same team and I just fell in love.”

Born with a partial right arm, Hudson faced plenty of challenges learning the fundamentals of the game. Beyond his team’s practices, he and his father put in extra work to overcome them.

“We would go out there every night,” remembered Hudson. “I had practice three times a week when I first started, but we would stay after. We would be at the house in the mornings catching, taking handoffs and all that.”

His head coach at Cox, Tyler Noe, has watched Hudson’s development firsthand.

“Watching him catch footballs is one of the most impressive things in the world because it doesn’t bother him, it doesn’t affect him,” Noe said. “He goes up there, catches it, comes down and he continues to run.”

Doubt from others only added fuel to Hudson’s drive.

“People doubted me,” he said. “People said I couldn’t take a handoff or I couldn’t play football. That always kind of stuck with me.”

That motivation has helped shape him into one of Cox’s most important players — and one of its most respected leaders. Hudson noted that he doesn’t hear many doubts anymore, but his drive hasn’t decreased.

“Great leader,” Noe pointed out. “Kids look up to him. Even his friends look up to him, coaches, I look up to him. He’s just a great kid and a great leader for this program and these other kids that are out here.”

Hudson does not see his limb difference as a defining characteristic, and those around him have taken note.

“He does not like when people talk about it as a hindrance to his ability to play football because to him he’s just a football player,” Noe said.

For Hudson, the lessons he has learned on the field extend far beyond it.

“It’s not even football-wise,” he added. “Learn to adapt to anything outside, in the classroom, on the field, so nothing’s really been a big problem.”

Hudson is also mindful of the example he sets for others who may be watching — much like he once watched and was inspired.

“I try to be the best role model I can,” he said. “If I can be any inspiration to those people in the stands, I’d love it.”

Noe said Hudson has looked to NFL player Shaquem Griffin as a model for navigating his own journey.

“When Griffin was playing in the NFL, he leaned on him a lot and watched him a lot, just to see how he maintained it,” noted Noe. “I think he’s definitely an inspiration for a lot of kids out there who are watching from the stands.”

With college aspirations on the horizon, Hudson is focused on finishing his high school career strong — and leaving a message for anyone who needs to hear it.

“Don’t let the talk get to you. Keep striving to do your best and you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Hudson and Cox open the season August 28 at Ocean Lakes.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.