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Students Guide Blind Football Player to Touchdowns

"He got off the bus and was just from ear to ear in grins and smiles"

A random act of kindness by a group of students at White Settlement Independent School District’s Tannahill Intermediate School may have had a bigger impact on one student than they realize.

It was Friday during a time when students who hadn’t been issued discipline referrals for a certain length of time were able to attend a special party when a group of students started a game of football. One student who was not playing but asked to get in the game was 11-year-old Graham Palmer.

“Graham was born with congenital retinal detachment and has been blind since birth,” said Palmer’s mom Deann Palmer.

So, imagine Graham’s reaction when the group said yes.

“I got quarterback – scored touchdowns at all that,” Graham Palmer, a 6th grader at the school, said.

The group brought Graham into their game, and students helped guide him down the field while others stood stationary and let him bump into them as if he were being blocked.

“It’s pretty amazing seeing our kids in action,” Tannahill Intermediate School President Randy Summerhill said, “we have spent a lot of time teaching our kids our campaign ‘choosing kindness’, and to have a growth mindset and GRIT  - all those things we talk to them about every day, and to see it in action when there’s no adults around, it’s very rewarding.”

The students chanted, “MVP!” as Graham made his way into the end zone.

“What they are bestowing in all these young children is just awesome and we have a lot of people to thank for that and are truly blessed,” Deann Palmer said.

“He spiked the ball one time, the last time our teacher filmed it and Graham was crying because he was so happy,” Summerhill said.

“I was inspired,” Deann Palmer said, “hearing those kids change “MVP” and seeing Graham run with his happy little face, and after getting the email that he had tears in his eyes at the end, knowing what that meat to him is just beyond belief.”

Graham says he knew the other students were there to help.

“I knew because they were helping me so I wouldn’t fall down,” Graham Palmer said.

“It’s a very small moment, one minute of his life..who knows what it opened up,” said Benji Palmer.

“The one word that keeps coming into my mind is reflection,” said Summerhill, “I just think it’s a huge testament, it’s a reflection of God and what He can do with us, his goodness, it’s a reflection of our parents, our teachers at this school, it’s a reflection of our leadership in this district and this community.”

The Palmers say Graham returned home from school that day to tell them he played football, but they already knew after video captured by a school staff member began circulating on social media.

“Oh yes, he got off the bus and was just from ear to ear in grins and smiles,” Deann Palmer said, “I asked him what he did at school today and he said I played football, I got touchdowns.”

“When I caught wind of the video, I am a worrywart, and when he was getting into the second levels of school I worried about the way some of the kid would treat him,” said his father Benji Palmer, “it makes me feel better about putting him on that bus every day and knowing that he’s going to a safe place and a place he can spread his wings and continue to grow.”

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