Six summers ago Nick Frazier was living the typical boyhood dream.
At 10 years old, Frazier was on the mound of a championship series with his travel baseball team in Biloxi, Mississippi.
“I pitched the best game of my life,” Frazier said. “But something wasn’t right. I was sick. I guess you could say I had strep throat, but didn't know it at the time.”
PHOTOS: Frazier walks by faith
It was the first game of the tournament. Frazier was running a fever and had a headache. The doctor said he had strep throat. He was given a shot.
“It was supposed to help but didn’t,” Frazier said. “I got home, but I never really got back to 100% and I went to the doctor constantly. Nobody could tell me what was wrong.”
Frazier didn’t play baseball again. He came home to Millbrook and traveled to doctors in Montgomery and Birmingham. He was finally admitted to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. A check of Frazier’s eyes found fluid on his optic nerves. It was papilledema.
“They didn't really know the extent of it,” Frazier said. “They just knew I had a bunch of swelling in my optic nerve.”
An MRI revealed a large blood clot from the base of Frazier’s brain back around to his jugular veins. Immediate surgery removed the majority of the blood clot, but the damage was already done. Frazier realized at 10 years old he was going blind quickly.
“I was going to wind up being blind, but it was going to take a few months before it got to that complete point,” Frazier said.
Things didn’t go dark. Even today, Frazier’s vision has flicker but he doesn’t see shapes or contrast.
“I see like this hazy rainbow of colors,” Frazier said. “When I could see, I would say it’s like looking into the sun and things go blurry, but you can still see some colors. It’s just kind of muted.”
His parents Michael and Tina Frazier quickly realized they needed help with their son’s education. Frazier had been in private schools until the health incident. The schools didn’t have the resources to help with Frazier’s education.
Frazier transferred to Millbrook Middle School as a seventh grader. There was access to special education paraprofessionals and teachers.
“At first I didn't know what to expect,” Frazier said. “I've never been in a school, especially with classes bigger than nine people. It was definitely a risk, but it actually paid off. I believe that I've thrived better than most could have expected.”
Frazier soon found friends and more, especially when he got to the ninth grade at Stanhope Elmore High School.
“We are a family in this area,” Frazier said. “That's the one thing I love about Stanhope Elmore is everybody shows up for each other. I have multiple people that I can call right now and they'd show up anytime I needed them. I'm really thankful to have that here. It's a really tight knit community.”
Frazier credits staff at the schools for his success. They aided him in using his other talents to succeed.
“I had a photographic memory before I went blind,” Frazier said. “I was also always an auditory learner. If somebody can explain it a couple times, I'm typically going to pick up on it and figure out a way that's best for me to learn it. I believe God was preparing me for this journey.”
In the hallways, Frazier’s classmates make sure he can get around. They create a path for him and his paraprofessional who helps with notes and reads exams to him to answer.
Stanhope Elmore High School principal Ewell Fuller knew Frazier would be walking the halls of his schools. But he wanted Frazier to have more than just classroom experience as a student.
“I knew he loved baseball,” Fuller said. “I called the coach and said I have this blind student and he is on your team.”
Frazier is in the dug out cheering on his teammates at games. He puts on eye black.
“He is very much a part of the team,” Fuller said. “He brings so much to everyone he is around.”
Frazier said he is more of a manager, but it helps him remain close to a game he loves.
Frazier was on the wrestling team at Stanhope Elmore. He did it mainly to get in shape
“It worked for me because it’s a close contact sport,” Frazier said.
In neutral positions Frazier and his opponent would touch palms for the start. The other positions start with contact.
Frazier gave up wrestling but not because he couldn’t do it. He did it to concentrate on school and JROTC. Going into his senior year of high school, Frazier is the executive officer, second cadet in charge, of the Mustang Battalion of JROTC.
Earlier in the school year Frazier was placed by Dogs Inc. with a service dog, Morgan, who now helps guide Frazier around.
“He's just been an all star,” Frazier said. “He's been there every step of the way. It's kind of hard to explain it like this, but I trust this dog with my life. He is my guide when I don't have anybody else around.”
Morgan will be there when Frazier graduates from high school and college.
“He might be there when I get married,” Frazier said. “He will retire when he is about 10 years old and I will get another service dog.”
Frazier marches in parades with the rest of the battalion. His arm is outstretched and on the shoulder of a fellow cadet in the parade.
Frazier and Morgan placed third in a regional JROTC Knock Out Drill competition.
“A lot of people were shocked that the dog was in the formation doing the moves with me,” Frazier said. “Him being on a synchronized level like that is really what sets it apart.”
Boys State
Before Frazier went to Florida to train with Morgan for two weeks, he had inquired about Boys State. It was a program he knew little about but knew it was prestigious.
Boys State is a unique summer program that does not rely on lectures and textbook scenarios, but hands on experience and participation in a model state government. It was founded to supplement the curriculum taught in high school civics classes. The program teaches that the preservation of our democracy depends on informed citizens electing responsible officials to administer our government.
This summer it was at the University of Alabama.
Frazier had his future mapped out, but the experience two weeks ago at Boys State at the school has him looking at Duke University as well.
“Before this, I could have told you, without a shadow of a doubt I would be going to the University of Alabama, major in sports management, minor in finance and pre-law,” Frazier said. “Then get my law degree and be a sports agent. When baseball was stripped away from me, I didn't have that choice to keep it or give up on it, but I had the choice to stay in the sports realm. So that was the goal.”
The Boys State program let him bring Morgan. Frazier campaigned to be a state senator and won. He then campaigned for lieutenant governor and won.
“Morgan was my campaign manager,” Frazier said. “I won with 72% of the votes.”
Frazier will travel to Boys Nation in Washington D.C. next month and has the goal of becoming vice president. It’s an office Alabama representative Rohan Parekh won last year. Frazier wants to make sure he represents Alabama.
“My goal was to go up there and hold the vice presidency seat and bring that back to Alabama again,” Frazier said. “It's bigger than just me. At this point, I'm doing this for the entire state, and especially all of those who attended Boys State, because they trusted me enough to be their representative. That's why they voted for me.”
The experience and camaraderie found at Boys State has changed Frazier’s goals for the future.
“I guess you could say, I found a passion for politics and the political science aspect of things,” Frazier said. “It is something I never thought I would say, until I went to Boys State. It opened up a lot of avenues for me.”
Frazier is now considering a double major in economics and political science with a minor in finance and a law degree.
“I want to do something in politics,” Frazier said. “If the politics side of things don’t work out, I can always fall back to finance law and things like that. College wise, Alabama, obviously, is still in the mix. It's where I wanted to go since I was little. But another place I've always wanted to go is Duke. This experience at Boys State and Boys Nation will open lots of doors.”
Motivation
Frazier doesn’t remember the last thing he saw and he’s OK with that. Frazier gives credit to God in not remembering too much about the trauma of going blind. He said it's like he went into a coma.
“He's given me the strength to come through this and fight tooth and nail to get back where I am today,” Frazier said. “Honestly, I'm better today than I was before I lost my eyesight.”
Going blind at 10 years old was difficult. Frazier didn’t know what the future held.
“I've had to mature quickly, losing a key sense at 10 years old and having to basically relearn life has made me grow up very fast,” Frazier said. “God's done something to me. I'm not going to lie. I haven't been able to figure out what it is yet. But I've accepted it completely and it doesn't bother me anymore. I've denied the fact that I'm gonna let this bother me and I'm just gonna keep living my life.”
Fuller has been in education for 30 years and has never had a student quite like Frazier.
“I've had plenty of students with disabilities and love them all,” Fuller said. “Frazier just pushes through everything. He inspires people around him, and that includes me, that includes his classmates, that includes his teachers, that includes his coaches. I mean, Frazier inspires everybody.”
Fuller admires Frazier for his positive attitude, leadership and integrity.
“Most people would think that Frazier would want somebody to lift him up, but he doesn’t,” Fuller said. “He loves people. Strength comes in all kinds of things and Frazier is one of them.”
Frazier’s journey meant he had to learn to read again, how to eat and how to function in society.
“Stuff people take for granted every day I had to relearn,” Frazier said. “God has made it to where my testimony can be educational for all. I don't let anything affect me. I act as normal as I can be, because I'm not going to let this disability define me. It's really refreshing to be able to educate people on my situation. Especially if they want to know more about Morgan and service dogs.
“My slogan has always been ‘Walk by Faith, not by Sight.’ That's what's gotten me through this, going on six years now.”
