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Amazing story....
Jordan Creel awoke to the sound of an alarm at 3 a.m. on Oct. 18.
No big deal, he thought. It was simply time to get moving for school.
Usually, his mom had to pull the sheets out from under him to get him out of bed. On this morning, though, he figured he'd spare her the trouble.
But when Creel opened his eyes, all he saw was smoke.
He jumped up and immediately ran toward his mother's room, but flames had engulfed the doorway. After hearing a faint cry for help, Jordan ran outside and knocked on the doors of three neighboring houses. Nobody answered.
He returned to see if he could find his mother, going to the back of the house. He broke a window to her bedroom so he could stick a running hose through the hole. But when the glass broke, dark smoke poured out.
Knowing there was nothing he could do, Jordan went to the front yard and frantically cried for help.
"She was strong-willed," says Jordan Creel of his mother, Karen. "She wanted us to succeed." (Photos courtesy of Steve Barrow)
The fire trucks came. And then the police.
A short time later, he watched from a squad car as his mother's body was removed from the home.
Karen Creel, 43 and a mother of three, had died of smoke inhalation.
A part of Jordan Creel, an easy-going and popular 16-year-old sophomore running back at Alabama Christian Academy in Montgomery, went with her.
"She was everything to him," Alabama Christian coach Gregg Baker said.
Three weeks have passed since what is believed to be an electrical malfunction ignited the fire, and to Creel it all still seems so surreal -- the tragedy, the love from his family (Jordan has a brother, 22, and sister, 18) and friends, the generosity of his community and, of course, the game of his life that came only a day after his mother's passing.
"It's all still flying by," Creel said.
Karen Creel was a tough mom. Fair, but tough.
The Creels' home on Halcyon Downs Drive was a loving one. But, at times, an imperfect one. Karen tried to keep the family together, but that challenge proved to be too difficult. When her marriage dissolved, she took charge of the household.
"She was strong-willed," Jordan said. "She wanted us to succeed."
She, too, wanted to succeed. Karen was attending college at Auburn-Montgomery. She hoped to become a teacher. She also was deeply religious.
"She was a great woman." Baker said. "She came up to me several times and told me she appreciated me being here and what I meant to Jordan. I was close enough to know her and what she was about."
Everything that happened in the immediate hours after Karen Creel died is a blur to Jordan. He went to stay with his grandparents, who lived just a few blocks away. "I couldn't really grasp that my mother was gone," Creel said.
Football was the farthest thing from his mind.
His mother died on a Thursday, and not surprisingly Creel missed practice that day. Baker assumed he would be without Creel, the team's starting tailback, for the following night's game.
On Friday, there was no sign of Creel. But as the team was loading the bus for its game at Daleville, Alabama Christian athletic director Denise Ainsworth, the mother of Creel's girlfriend, called Baker and told him to "hold the bus."
"It was a tough decision (to play)," Creel said. "But for me, football was an escape. For two and a half hours, I didn't have to think about what happened. I did what I thought she would want me to do."
What followed is something not even Hollywood could script.
Facing a Daleville squad against which Alabama Christian was a decided underdog, the 5-foot-10, 145-pound Creel ran for a career-high 232 yards, scored two touchdowns, made nine tackles and forced a fumble in his team's 24-21 win.
"I've been coaching a long time," Baker said, "and I've never seen anything like that. Not only that, but I saw our kids block harder than I've ever seen in my life."
When the game ended, Creel's teammates lifted him on their shoulders. The following day, Karen Creel was laid to rest.
Accolades and media coverage followed. The Alabama Sports Writers Association named Creel the state player of the week. Someone who heard Creel's story has arranged for the lifelong Alabama fan to meet Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban later this month.
"Everybody has been amazing," Creel said.
Alabama Christian's season ended last Friday. The team finished 2-8, but Creel backed up his memorable performance with two more 100-yard games.
"It's amazing how well he's holding up," Baker said. "I'd be a basket case."
During the next few weeks, Creel will concentrate on school. There is much catching up to do since he missed a handful of days after his mother's death.
In the spring, he will turn his attention to baseball. Word is, he's a pretty fair outfielder.
Creel now lives with his grandparents. Having them around has helped more than he can express. But still, he admits he's going through a difficult time. He tries to avoid driving past his mother's house.
At times, he sinks into an abyss of negative emotion, but one thought always pulls him out of it.
"It goes back to how religious she was," Creel said. "It was horrible. But I know she's in a place 10 times better than I am right now. And she's way happier than any of us down here."
He paused, then continued.
"I'm doing fine."
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