It was an ordinary day of work. The same routine. He had done this hundreds of times, and today would be no different. A burglary on a familiar street of a familiar town where he would do the same thing he always did.
That is what former deputy Jeff DeGrow thought while he was patrolling James Island in 2010.
“It was a very cold and rainy day. I got the call and I was very close to where the house that got broken into was, so I responded very quickly,” DeGrow said. “The homeowner had only been gone 30 minutes and the possibility of the people who committed that crime could have been in the area still.”
While tracking the burglars on foot, DeGrow turned a corner. Suddenly, one of the burglars opened fire on him, causing blindness in his right eye. As DeGrow lay on the ground, the burglar continued to fire. The suspect emptied the remaining rounds into the deputy, six in total.
“I was blessed to be able to survive… because I probably shouldn’t have, but by the grace of God, I did,” DeGrow said.“So I try to do my best to impact others in a positive way and tell my story that God has given me to hopefully help others.”
This year, FCA hosted its annual kick-off event on September 6 with just under 200 students in attendance to hear DeGrow speak. During the speech, DeGrow shared his inspiring testimony that touched the lives of the students listening.
DeGrow recalls his story of the shooting, but also includes what is truly important in life and to put your focus on God above all.
“In the bigger realm, what is most important is putting God first. Put all your focus into God,” Degrow said. “Prioritizing what’s more important in your life because you never know what could happen tomorrow, to any of us… faith and family are the top two priorities because everything else will come and go.”
Students were impacted in more ways than one as DeGrow shared his testimony and message. Sophomore Ella Coleman noted that his speech was one of the best speeches she had heard yet at an FCA gathering.
“It was really great… It really showed students how God can have his hand over you in tough situations like that,” Coleman said.
Touching the lives of many people in astounding and inspiring ways is no easy weight to bear. With the touching and impactful story DeGrow holds, it can be tough to navigate and to know how to feel about the overflowing amounts of support received.
“I feel in some ways I am here for a purpose, and that purpose is to impact people’s lives in a positive way and so whatever someone may have taken from either my story or what I said,” DeGrow said. “And if that can impact them in a positive way I have done my job, so to speak, and honored why I am still here.”
As the year goes on, FCA will continue to strive to make lasting impacts on the students through speakers, fun meetings, and events. Psychology teacher and FCA sponsor David Morbitzer looks forward to the new year of FCA and what it will look like for the students.
“We would really like to get as many kids as we can in there and really push that message out to kids if [they are] interested,” Morbitzer said. “There’s a lot of people who go to churches around here who I don’t see, and [we are] really just trying to get people in and develop that culture of fellowship inside of Wando.”
Other students in attendance were deeply moved by DeGrow’s testimony, Sophomore Katherine DuBose felt inspired by his survival and resurgence of faith.
“It showed that if you have faith… if you have faith it’s like really impactful and powerful,” DuBose said. “It just showed me that people’s testimonies come in all different ways but like it doesn’t matter it’s all a testimony.”