COLLINSVILLE — To say the past 12 months featured misfortune for West Lauderdale High School student Jeremiah McKee would be an understatement.

Over the past year, McKee, or “Turbo” as to which he is affectionately referred by nearly everyone who knows him, was diagnosed with Chron’s disease, tore his ACL, underwent colon resection surgery and lost his family’s home during this past February’s tornadoes that ripped through Collinsville.

But when the Knights’ starting quarterback reflected on the tumultuous circumstance of events, he displayed a maturity that far defies his age.

“At first, I was like, ‘Well, is there any point in me playing? Why is this happening to me?’” McKee, said. “But I prayed about it and read a (Bible) verse where it said God is never going to forsake you. He’s always going to be there for you, and He has a plan for you. (The situation) is probably giving me endurance for the future.”

As McKee practiced Wednesday afternoon at West Lauderdale, the rising junior directed the Knights’ wide receiving corps as the unit ran through routes. McKee opted to practice without a shirt, which put the scar that runs up from his navel as a result of the surgical procedure to remove a foot of his colon on display.

After his parents, Robbie and Tonia, noticed their son had difficulty maintaining his weight, they sought medical professional help. McKee was diagnosed with Chron’s disease in May 2015.

“I wasn’t really growing any, and I wasn’t really filling out like I was predicted to,” he said. “I went up to Jackson, and they diagnosed me with Chron’s. From then on, it just started. Eventually, I was going about every three weeks to get an IV for Chron’s called remicade. And then, I was put on 40 milligrams of prednisone, so I filled out pretty quickly.”

The prednisone, however, caused an additional autoimmune disease that resulted in large cystic acne to form on his neck.

“I had big hives of abscesses crawling on my neck — you can see the scars,” he said. “It continued on and got worse. I was playing and had to deal with them all through football season. About every week, I’d have to get put down under surgery and get lanced.”

The oral antibiotics McKee was taking for the abscesses didn’t work, so doctors prescribed an intravenous therapy cocktail of medicines to more aggressively attack the disease.

“I had to go every day, for about six or seven weeks, every day around 12 o’clock to get my IV, and then I’d come out to practice,” McKee said. “And sometimes, I’d have to miss a Wednesday practice to go get lanced.”

Despite the grueling treatments, McKee continued to quarterback West Lauderdale as he played in eight games for the Knights. But a wrong plant step during a game presented yet another obstacle he’d had to overcome. On Oct. 9, against Northeast Jones High School, McKee planted one of his feet on the turf as he rolled right to avoid a tackle. He then heard the dreaded pop that follows an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.

He played in West Lauderdale’s playoff contest against Moss Point later that year and had surgery to repair his left knee Dec. 3.

As expected, his parents wondered how much more he could take, but said their faith in a higher power carried them through the heartbreak.

“It was a difficult time for us, as well,” said Robbie McKee, Turbo’s father. “When we first found out he had Chron’s, we went to our church, and our pastor and the others laid hands on him and prayed for him. They’ve been praying for him. Our church family has supported us so much through it, and I think that had a big part to do with it.”

Nearly two months after Turbo McKee’s ACL surgery, the McKees’ home was destroyed by the February 2016 tornadoes. Later that month, he underwent colon resection surgery where doctors removed a foot of his colon.

Turbo McKee said he knows more obstacles will be thrown his way, but he feels well-suited to handle the pressure in the pocket, and off the football field.

“I probably still have a lot more adversity to overcome — you never know. I can stare adversity right in the face and still be able to overcome it, because I’ve dealt with it already,” he said.

Stan McCain, West Lauderdale’s head football coach, said his quarterback’s reaction to the hurdles thrown his way inspires and motivates his teammates.

“The quarterback has to be the leader, especially on offense, and he’s done a good job — of course he’s been training for that for many of years,” McCain said. “He certainly leads by example, and he’s not afraid to work, and the rest of the guys understand that. He has a toughness aspect to him that his teammates appreciate, too. 

“I think they know him well enough to know that he isn’t going to lay down and let something like the adversity he’s been through get him down. He’s going to come back. Most people would have packed it in and went to the house. God-willing, he’ll be suited up on the 19th of August and out there like the rest of them.”