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Metchie, playing wide receiver, was hit in the chest and immediately noticed his heart started to beat. Hard.

He had to wait to be checked out because of the swelling in the area. The examination discovered he had an enlarged heart that was causing murmurs. Metchie was sidelined for the rest of his freshman season.

This was a surprise to Metchie’s family. His mom and three brothers began wondering if they’d made the right decision to support his choice to cross the border.

Living almost eight hours away from his hometown of Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, Metchie admits not having his loved ones around for the recovery process was tough.

“It was hard,” Metchie said. “I think that was one of the hardest times of my high-school career, especially dealing with this whole thing in a different country, being away from my mom and my brothers and things like that.”

After standing on the sidelines watching the team play for the rest of the year, Metchie was determined to return and make an impact.

The sport he started playing in elementary school, taking after his older brothers, was his passion. He welcomed the adversity of an injury that would normally break most players his age. It made him realize how special football is — and why he can’t take it for granted.

Over the summer of 2015, Metchie worked hard on his conditioning to get back in shape. The countless hours he spent on the field and in the weight room was where he developed the work ethic so many of his coaches and teammates rave about.