re: Siran Stacy returning to Bama, as honorary captain....

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Siran Stacy to share his testimony: Oxford church welcomes former football star
By Brett Buckner
Staff Writer
07-19-2008


It was the most horrible night of his life. And now Siran Stacy is willing to relive it over and over again in order to help others.

Stacy was once best known as the former star running back for the University of Alabama from 1989 to '91. He was No. 27, the man whose 17 rushing touchdowns in 1989 is second all-time for the Crimson Tide.

But that all changed at around 11 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19, when a pickup truck driving on the wrong side of the road broadsided Stacy's passenger van at an intersection six miles outside of Dothan. In an instant, Stacy traded headlines in the sport's pages for those on the front page.

Six people were killed that night, including Stacy's wife, Ellen, and four of their children — Lequisa, 18, Bronson, 10, Sidney, 8, and Ellie, 2. The driver of the pickup, Adam W. Wayman, who had a blood alcohol level of .135. also died in the accident.

Only Stacy and his 3-year-old daughter, Shelly, survived.

"It was horrendous," Houston County coroner Robert Byrd told the Associated Press the morning following the accident. "I've never had anything like that in my life, and I've been doing this for 20 years."

In the months since the accident, Stacy struggled to pull his life back together.

"After the tragedy, I drifted off to a place … just indescribable, a lot of pain, and confusion and turmoil all running through me," he says. "I had to make a choice — to either believe and follow God or end my life.

"God led me out."

Stacy has begun using his faith to inspire others by visiting churches and sharing his testimony. He will be speaking at Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Oxford Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

And while it's obvious that the pain of loss still lingers — referring to the accident rather indirectly by its date, 11-19-07 — Stacy has found a certain comfort in talking about role God is playing in his life.

"I don't talk about 11-19-07 just anytime and to anyone. It's just so hard," he says. "But in church, in that pulpit, it's almost like I'm safe. It still hurts, but if my pain can help or inspire someone else … I'll know why God has chosen me."

Gary Rivers, who serves as pastor for Meadowbrook, first met Stacy at a benefit golf tournament in Vestavia Hills and was immediately impressed by his strength of faith and character.

"He's a man who's been about as high as you can go and been about as low as you can go," he says. "But God has pulled him through. I think there's something we can learn from that."

And there is bright side amidst all the sorrow. Stacy is proud to report that Shelly, now 4 years old, is healthy and is getting ready for kindergarten.

"She misses her mom," he says. "She misses her brothers and sisters, but she's getting along. We both are."

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