- I've been playing basketball since I was

a little kid.

Very young around 3, 4 years old.

That's my place of peace.

I feel I'm at bliss when I'm there.

So, the court is, in terms, my sanctuary.

- [Narrator] In the Fall of 2017,

junior Emmitt Holt waslooking forward to another

great year playing for Providence College.

- I know it was goingto be a great season.

The sky was the limit for us, honestly.

- [Narrator] But onenight in early September,

he started experiencingintense stomach pains.

An hour later,

he called the team trainer.

- He gets there and I'mcrawling down the hallway,

I'm just in pain at this point.

Like, it's top-notch pain,

some pain I never felt before.

I just knew something was wrong.

- (siren wailing)

[Narrator] Emmitt was rushed to

Roger Williams Medical Center in

Providence, Rhode Island.

When the pain continuedinto the next morning,

doctors suspected appendicitis

and prepared for surgery.

They also called his mother, Caroline.

- The first thing that I thought about

after I got the message was

"Oh my God, what's going on?"

"What's really going on", you know?

I believe in prayer,so I definitely prayed.

- [Narrator] By the timeshe made the six hour drive,

Emmitt was in recovery.

His appendix was fineand they couldn't find

anything wrong.

- Seeing him laying on that bed

really made me feel helpless.

I just grabbed him andhugged him, you know?

Sitting here looking atmy child in pain, tubes,

medicine, IVs, all thisstuff on and no one

not really know what's going on.

It's frustrating, it's aggravating.

Cried many, many times.

Just like, "God", you know,"what is this all about?"

- [Narrator] Unable to keep food down,

Emmitt was put on a feeding tube.

He grew weaker with each passing day.

And his hopes for a greatseason were vanishing.

- I was very angry with God.

The future was looking amazingand then all of a sudden

we had this huge blockade.

- [Caroline] It was reallya lot of trial, error.

A lot of testing, a lot of blood work

because they honestly didn't know

what was going on.

- [Narrator] After two weeks of testing,

doctors still had no answers.

By then, Emmitt had lost almost 20 pounds

and was in constant pain.

Frustrated, Carolineinsisted Emmitt be moved to

Massachusetts General in Boston to see

a different group of doctors.

- Our prayers were definitely,"Lord, send someone

with the wisdom andknowledge to figure out

what is going on."

- There was plenty ofnights where I yelled out

to God and questioned Him.

- [Narrator] As family,friends, and teammates prayed,

Emmitt continued to decline.

Now it wasn't a matter ofmissing a season of basketball,

it was about losing his life.

- I had nightmares of that.

I had questions about it.

Questioned God about it and, you know,

and I said, "God, ifYou're going to take him,

You're going to haveto prepare me for this,

because this is not howhis story should end."

- Just being alone andletting my mind wandering,

having the Devil talk to me in my ear,

all these factors,

it led me to just have the mindset of

"If I die, I die."

- [Narrator] Then in late October,

six weeks after entering the hospital,

Emmitt went into toxic shock

and was rushed into surgery.

- When I first initiallyheard that he had flatlined,

I had this cold chill go all over my body.

It just threw me into so many emotions,

so many feelings.

I mean, I can't put a word to all of

the feelings and emotions I had.

I was just really overwhelmed.

- [Narrator] It was thenthey found the problem.

An infection aggressivelyeating at his intestines.

They operated on Emmitt for six hours,

removing eight feet of small intestine

and installing an ileostomy bag for waste.

Still, they weren't sure it was enough.

- [Caroline] There was no assurity.

You know, there was no certainty,

there was no nothing.

No promises.

Everyone was pretty muchpraying that it would go well.

- [Narrator] The nextday, Emmitt was weak,

but stable.

So they moved him to ICU.

By then, Emmitt was sure hisbasketball career was over.

Soon, Emmitt started to improve.

Doctors worked with his conditioning coach

to help him regain thefifty pounds he'd lost

and build his strength back.

- He was able to get out of that bed.

When he was able to actually eat,

when he was able to actually walk around,

I did feel like my prayerswas being answered.

- [Narrator] As for Emmitt,

another change was taking place.

- I found a new relationship with God

while I was in the hospital, you know?

God is first on everything.

- [Narrator] In lateNovember after 64 days

in the hospital,

Emmitt finally went home.

He returned to college inJanuary and later that spring,

he ileostomy was reversed.

That fall,

- I'm back boy!

- [Narrator] He walked outonto the court for his first

home game of the season.

- For me to step ontothe court and I look up

and everyone just startsapplauding because they

congratulate me on my successof beating this thing,

whatever this was,

it was just a so real feel.

It was amazing.

- [Caroline] I was so excited for him.

Because the one thing he wanted back,

God gave it back to him.

- [Narrator] Emmitt went on to grad school

and played another seasonuntil it was canceled

due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now graduated, he stillhas dreams of going Pro.

But it's not basketballthat's first in his mind.

- Because I give gloryto God everywhere I go.

- There's nothing impossible for God.

Because I look at my son andhe's the walking miracle.

- I know God has a purposefor me on this earth

and I know I'm walkingthrough it right now.

I'm blessed to be able to do such.

I'm just excited to see what comes next.