HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – The “Golfer of the Year” for Hillsborough County Public Schools is Braden Cecil, a senior at Steinbrenner High School. He won an incredible honor but what is even more incredible is how well he is golfing while waiting for an organ transplant.
“It is all in your mind,” explained Braden when asked why he is passionate about golf, “and I love testing myself every day. Whenever I feel stressed, I come out to the golf course and hit some golf balls and it really helps me relieve that stress that I have and it just puts me in a better place overall.”
His swing actually catapulted him into the sport when he was only 7 years old. His dad, Jamie Cecil, spotted it.
“I was in the backyard,” recalled Braden. “He was throwing baseballs to me.”
“He has got the big bat and it went past him,” said Jamie, “and I was like, ‘Braden, bend down and pick it up and throw it to me,’ and, as a typical little kid, he did what he wanted to do.”
“I made a golf swing at it,” said Braden, “and he said, ‘Wow! We are playing the wrong sport!’”
“We immediately got him a set of clubs,” Jamie said with a smile, “and he has been playing ever since.”
The two of them, father and son, try to golf together every weekend. They have been doing it for years and they continued to do it after the diagnosis on Aug. 20.
“When I first heard the news,” said Braden, “I was petrified, like, why am I here and what am I doing? I was like, ‘I thought I was a regular 17-year-old but apparently not.’”
Braden, who is now 18 years old, has stage 4 renal failure and he needs a kidney transplant. His kidneys are currently operating at about 25%.
“You cannot fathom what that means and so we went into survival mode,” said Jaime.
That “survival mode” included changing Braden’s diet to reduce his intake of sodium and potassium and keeping his golf game strong.
“As a freshman,” said Braden, “my scoring average was a 48 and I worked for my four years and, now, my senior year, my scoring average is a 38 so it was a 10 stroke difference in four years. The average par on nine holes is 36 and I started out around 10 over for nine holes and I brought it down to about one or two so it is a pretty big difference.”
Braden, the “Golfer of the Year,” is still swinging because, nothing, not even a shocking diagnosis, can stop him.
“The sky is the limit,” said Jaime. “I hope we get a kidney donated and he gets through this and the other side is just as bright and cheery as it is today for him. He has the right mindset for this so he will get through it.”
If you would like to become a living donor by seeing if you are a match for Braden, you can call Tampa General Hospital at 813-844-5669.
