A Westwide High School former student-athlete, Ronnie “Tre” Lawson Jr. from Macon, Georgia, took to his Facebook to share about his journey.
Ronnie “Tre” Lawson Jr. grew up in Macon, Georgia, where he poured everything into track and field at Westside High School.
He scored a solid 3.0 GPA while training hard as a student athlete, always chasing his next personal best.
Let alone academics, Tre was a star athlete who became the top-ranked 300-meter hurdler in the state and landed at no.15 across the whole country.
If not, colleges started like USC, Florida, Clemson, UTEP, and more, reaching out after seeing real potential in him.
Life looked wide open after he walked across the stage for his diploma. He even squeezed in a race right before prom, determined to keep pushing.
Then came June 11, a day that flipped his entire being upside down.
Tre had finished up at the track with his brothers and headed to the car. He took those steps without any idea they would be his last ones on his own.
The driver fell asleep at the wheel, and the car veered off, flipped, and ended up in a ravine. The car veered off, flipped, and ended up in a ravine.
Tre didn’t wake up for four full weeks. When he finally came to in the hospital, nothing felt the same.
His legs wouldn’t move, and his abdomen had been torn open from the crash. He sustained four major injuries, i.e., brain, spine, spinal cord, and abdominal damage.
They said he was paralyzed from the waist down. Hearing that in the bed, Tre felt broken in ways deeper than the body.
He questioned if he still had any value, if his future had vanished, if running, the one thing everyone knew him for, was gone for good.
Tre was depressed, cried a lot, and stayed quiet. He watched his parents and family hurt right along with him, wondering if he caused it all.
Rehab started early and went late, Monday through Friday, forcing his body to push past limits.
Some days, he felt like quitting, but being around other people fighting their own tough recoveries shifted something inside him.
He wrote:
Being surrounded by others fighting their own battles showed me something important. It could have been worse. That realization didn’t minimize my pain, but it gave me perspective.
Ronnie “Tre” Lawson Jr
But then something happened that gave a glimmer of hope. His legs twitched and moved a little.
Slowly, the little hope turned into progress as he learned to walk with a walker, and she still uses one today.
Tre refused to let that crash write the final chapter. He pushed through school without the athletic scholarships he once expected, earned his degree, and became a certified educator in Georgia.
Now he teaches special education and early childhood, working with kids who need extra support.
On January 7, 2026, he put his whole story out there in a memoir called The Hurdle That Broke Me. He shared about the collapse, the pain, the slow climb back, and the proof that being broken doesn’t mean the end.
From that same place came Rolling Hope, his brand and movement to lift up anyone facing huge life changes, especially spinal cord injuries and disabilities. It focuses on raising awareness, supporting research, and pushing for fair treatment, no matter what someone is dealing with.
These days, he expands his voice through motivational speaking, content creation, and podcasting. He uses his story to remind others that progress isn’t about speed.
