Six months ago, Diamondbacks pitcher Evan Marshall looked death straight in the eye.
Pitching in a minor league game for the D-Backs Triple-A affiliate, a ball traveling at 105 miles per hour hit even in the head.
"I tried to hide behind my right shoulder and my glove, and the ball just went right between the two and hit me in the side of the head," Marshall said.
Evan's wife Allie was following the game on her phone in Reno, Nevada. The first call she received was from the Reno Ace's team trainer. 45 minutes later, Allie received another call.
"My heart stopped, and I knew something was wrong."
Something was very wrong, Evan was being rushed to a local hospital for emergency surgery and there was a good chance he wouldn't make it through the night.
While Evan went through surgery for a fractured skull, the D-Backs put Allie and their dog Butters on the first flight to El Paso, where Evan had been injured. When she arrived Evan had 18 staples in his head but wasn't waking up.
Evan stayed awake for 45 minutes, but his biggest concern wasn't his head. It was baseball.
Evan would spend a week in El Paso learning how to walk and talk again, then the real work began once he got back to Phoenix and started rehabbing at Barrow Neurological Institute.
The recovery went better then expected, the main reason why was his wife Allie.
"You rarely have an opportunity to prove the things you say in your wedding vows, and she actually had that opportunity and it was pretty great," Marshall said. "I wouldn't be where I am without her."
Six months after almost dying, Evan is back on the mound, 100-percent cleared and back to normal.
He's ready to go.
He's got new headgear, a special hat with special foam padding on the inside.
But for Evan, life is so much more than baseball these days. Evan and Allie have teamed up with several organizations that help others who have experienced traumatic brain injuries.
Life has come full circle for Evan and Allie, and thanks to help from dbacknation.com, the couple is helping others affected by head injuries.
If you'd like to help out, click the link and head to dbacknation.com.