After almost dying in a car crash, Pace defensive back, Micah Hunter, never takes for granted life and football.

“I did not think I was ever going to play football again,” Hunter said. “I thought I was done.”

Upon graduating high school, the California native’s plan was to play football at Culver Stockton College, where he would play for a year and transfer.

However, his plans changed one night while he was out driving with a friend.

“I was in the passenger seat with a friend,” Hunter said. “I had a couple of drinks and I was unconscious. I was ejected out of the car and the car flipped over numerous times.”

When he woke up in the hospital with a mouth full of tubes, he found out that he was lucky to even be alive.

“The person who called the ambulance did not even know if I was alive or not,” Hunter said. “The doctor even said to me, ‘There is no way you should even be alive.'”

Even though Hunter suffered a brain aneurysm, he did not do any damage to the rest of his body and would be able to play football again.

After redshirting for a year, Hunter was able to play for Culver Stockton.

“Everyone told me it was going to be a year or more before I could ever even think about playing,” Hunter said. “[The doctors] suggested that I stop playing, but I could not do it.”

After playing at Culver Stockton for a year, Hunter transferred to Pace.

Hunter knows now that he can never take football for granted and tries to preach this message to his teammates.

“I try to tell some of the younger guys on this team that you can’t take this game for granted because I promise it can be gone just like that,” Hunter said. “I try to tell this to the younger guys so they can take this game more seriously.”

Whenever Hunter takes the field, he says that he always plays like it’s the last time he will strap up his helmet because he knows everything can be taken so quickly.

“I never want to take my situation lightly,” Hunter said. “God had a plan, it could have all been gone. So when I came out alive, I knew if I stayed on this path I would be okay.”

Hunter also feels as though this entire experience has made him a better player, as he now feels extra motivation when he steps onto the field.

“I definitely became a much harder-working player after it happened,” Hunter said. “I never wanted to lose the ability to play at a high level, and that shows through my play being a shut down corner back.”