BUILT DIFFERENT: New Waverly three-sport star Ryson Nunez overcoming remarkable odds
Ryson Nunez of New Waverly has an amazing story of inspiration
Up Interstate 45, tucked between Willis and Huntsville, sits a small Texas railroad town.
Once known as Waverly Station, this is New Waverly — a place caught between the echoes of its past and the promise of its future.
The railroad still cuts through town. Hometown diners still line the main street. And the Louisiana-Pacific mill keeps turning out the plywood that drives the town economy.
Above it all stands St. Joseph’s Catholic Church — a beacon of faith, family and tradition in a town on the verge of tremendous growth.
But in New Waverly, one story stands above the rest.
Meet Ryson Nunez.
He’s the big man on campus. The quarterback under Friday night lights. The point guard when the gym is jumping. And the centerfielder patrolling the diamond.
Three sports. Three starting roles. All-District honors in every one.
And he does it all with one arm.
You have to see it to believe it.
But to understand Ryson, you have to go back to the very beginning.
During pregnancy, his umbilical cord became wrapped around his arm. His parents were stunned when doctors delivered the news. They were told that much of his arm would have to be removed.
It was a moment that would shape Ryson's life before he ever took his first breath.
Fifteen years later, that little boy has become the talk of the town. Confident. Fearless. Full of swagger but underneath it all is something even more powerful.
Grit. The kind that can’t be taught. The kind that shows up when the lights come on, when the game is on the line, and when the odds say you can’t.
In a town built on hard work, faith and community, Ryson Nunez is writing a story all his own.
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