From the "Ouachitonian": Josh Salim
January 01, 2020
For college athletes, playing the sport they loved required no shortage of hard work. But, for freshman mass communications major Josh Salim from Dallas, Texas, this passion went deeper than that.
Salim had been playing baseball ever since he started coach-pitch at age eight, along with his brothers. However, Salim and his brothers ware not a typical set of siblings: they were triplets. Salim considered being able to play baseball with both of his brothers a big blessing because he always had them there to encourage him and help improve his skills.
During his senior year of high school, Salim had the opportunity to play his last high school baseball game with both of his brothers, which motivated him to continue to play even after high school. With all of their hard work, Josh and his team, including his two brothers, won the state championship.
Playing baseball for so long, Josh faced many obstacles, but he never thought his health would become one of them. After Josh started having heart problems, he had almost given up all hope of playing baseball. Then he received the news that he would have the opportunity to play baseball for the Tigers.
“My dad has always supported my love for baseball, and has put in time, money and effort allowing me and my brothers to play baseball,” Salim said. “I was very excited that I would be able to come here to play baseball, because it allowed me to return the favor of my dad putting in all of this work to help me reach my goals.”
When he was offered the athletic scholarship, he began to work even harder to make all of the people that supported him proud. But then, Salim’s heart problems steadily got worse. Salim had to make a trip to the emergency room three different times.
Despite doctors’ many efforts to figure out what his diagnosis was, they did not find the problem. Over fall break, Salim went back home and went to the doctor there, hoping they would have different news than the doctors in Arkadelphia. But after many tests, his doctor still did not find anything that would explain his health issues.
Regardless of the health-related issues Salim faced with his health the past few years, he refused to give up and continued to play the game he loved. Salim’s heart for baseball helped him do that.
“I’m not going to let any issues with my health stop me from doing what I love,” Salim said. “Although, if there comes a time in the near or distant future in which I am unable to play baseball, or need to take a break concerning the severity of my health, then I will stop. I love the game, yes, but I am not jeopardizing my health for baseball because at the end of the day it is exactly that: a game. There is much more to life than baseball: the God I play and live for, the family who has shaped me into the young man I am today and that has motivated me to be all I can be and the friends who encourage me to do what I love. All these things matter far more than just a game.”
By Grace Ballard
Photo by Andy Henderson
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