The high school football season in North Texas kicked off last weekend. For one local standout player, the journey to becoming one of the top recruits in the state has included tragedy, uncertainty and a tremendous gift.
Prince Dorbah does not allow himself to take anything for granted.
"Never thought I'd be in the United States," said Dorbah. "Never thought I'd be a citizen. Never thought I'd get to play the sport of football. I didn't even know what the sport was."
Born in the West African country Ivory Coast, Prince, his brother and mother fled to the United States as refugees. But the circumstances became tragic for the two young boys just days after arriving in America.
"Our real mom was already dead, she died from a sickness in Africa trying to get us over here," said Dorbah. "Our dad was nowhere to be found."
Without a place to go, Prince and his brother moved in with an aunt in Dallas who had previously fled Ivory Coast, but lived with her three children in a small apartment, where money was extremely tight.
"I used to have to go and find scraps of food to eat," said Dorbah. "Or my brother would have to give me his food just so I made sure I was full."
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Five years later, at a community barbecue put on by a Highland Park area church, Highland Park residents Alphie and Kari Kilgus met Prince and he connected immediately with their two young sons.
"Kari's like why don't you get in the car and come, because Tyler and Cannon were right at his age, and come play with us," said Alphie. "And that's how it all started."
"Started hanging out with them every weekend, then it turned into every day, then every holiday," said Dorbah. "Everything I was doing with them, after that, they took me in."
"Then, of course, he almost instantly being part of our family," said Alphie. "When he was gone, we'd miss him."
Which is one reason the Kilgus family decided to officially adopt Prince at 12-years-old.
"It was the right thing to do," said Alphie. "We thought he was benefiting, but it was really us that benefited the most."
"We weren't looking for more children, we were trying to do the best we could by our children," said Kari Kilgus. "It was God who gave him to us. It wouldn't have worked out if God hadn't planned this."
Part of the plan as a member of the family included Prince playing organized sports for the first time, including trying out the game of football.
"He was a gentle giant," said Prince's father Alphie Kilgus. "He would never crush people like you see today. That kid didn't exist."
"All of my coaches have been saying that since day one in high school," said Dorbah. "They said you could make money playing football if you just set your mind to it. So since then, I've been focused on doing that."
The football focus paid off for Prince, and, in 2018, his junior season at Highland Park high school, he burst onto the scene with four sacks in the Scots state championship game victory in AT&T Stadium.
"Getting that fourth sack and winning that game, it was the icing on the cake and the cherry on top," said Dorbah. "I'm just glad we got that win and got another state championship."
A state championship for Prince, who is now considered one of the top high school football recruits in the state, and this summer, he was offered - and accepted - a scholarship to play football at the University of Texas. It's just the next chapter in his journey from war-torn nation, to a difficult living situation in Dallas, to a Highland Park family giving him an opportunity to live a new life he does not allow himself to take for granted.
"They're my true family," said Prince. "They look after me as their own. We've been through our ups and downs like every family has, but that's what makes us family and I love them. I'd do anything for them."
"I think he's a difference maker and he's going to make a difference in other people's lives," said Kari. "Just as he has with our family."
