Good Sports - LaShawn Escobar

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Football is the ultimate team sport, and there's a key member of the Fresno City Rams program who's been keeping a close eye on the program for nearly a decade.

High above the field at Ratcliffe Stadium, you will find LaShawn Escobar behind a camera.

"If you ever watch from 2009-2017 wide film from Fresno City football, that is me," he said.

For the better part of the last decade, LaShawn's passion has been providing the Fresno City football team with the best film possible.

"Against all odds, he's doing some amazing things to be able to get out here and do this," coach Tony Caviglia said. "This is his life."

It's a life that was altered forever at the age of three.

"He was playing with a ball in front of his apartment. The ball happened to roll into the street," coach Keith Travis said. "Before he could see it and the truck hit him and he rolled up into the wheel well. The truck dragged him about a half a mile before he fell out of the wheel well."

Miraculously, he survived after being in a coma for three months. Since the accident, LaShawn has constantly battled seizures.

Unable to play sports, he found a way to stay close to the game.

"When I was at Mclane, I was the water boy for four years," Escobar said.

"We kind of formed a bond when he was there because I was the coach there at Mclane as well," Travis said. "So, he started there with me and then when I moved here, he came over here with me."

"He said I want to be on the sideline, I want to be a water boy. I said, 'You know what, why don't I teach you how to film.' He said, 'Okay.' He had no idea how to operate a camera. Now he works a camera like it's a part of him," Caviglia said.

To help manage his seizures, LaShawn recently had a medical device put inside his chest.

"He has an implant in his chest that helps block the sensation of the seizure coming on," Caviglia said.

"This wand sees when I am feeling seizures. This thing goes off," Escobar said. "There's another wand on the side of me if I'm having one somebody grabs that wand and wands me."

Despite the obstacles, LaShawn's positive attitude and fantastic film make him an invaluable member of the Rams football program.

"Nobody should have any excuses about anything in life," Travis said. "The way he lives his life, he's so organized and so detailed. Everything is so important to him, he's always here. He never misses."

"He's an uplifting guy. He's positive all the time," Caviglia said. Fighting through his disability is really what makes him so special and we are just grateful to have him in our program."