Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruqayya Gibson.
In the meantime, I developed a love for track, running throughout high school and college. I was a natural leader and was team captain Sophomore through Senior year of both high school and college. After graduating from college, I began private coaching and working at a nonprofit helping families overcome hardship. I decided to start coaching full time at Cypress Springs and stayed there for the past nine years.
This past March a nightmare so horrific I never dared to even imagine happened. I lost my 17 year old son to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). He had no symptoms. He was alive and vibrant 1 minute and gone the next. I could not believe this could happen without a known pre-existing condition. I later learned that SCA is the #1 killer on school campuses and that it kills over 7,000 youth a year. That’s nearly 20 kids a day. Tragically, many times the first symptom is death. For the first few months, I didn’t think I’d survive and to be honest, I didn’t want to. Then slowly, I started finding my way back into the light. My mission is to keep my son’s legacy alive, nurture my living son’s legacy, and fulfill God’s divine purpose for my life.
As a coach I’ve been very successful helping kids become the best versions of themselves. I have coached multiple State Champions and have achieved four consecutive top 3 finishes as a team at the state meet. I have been Coach of the year, Brooks Inspiring Coach Finalist, inducted into CFISD Wall of Fame to name a few achievements. I have provided keynote speeches at New Mexico High School Coaches Association, Texas High School Coaches Leadership Summit, Texas A&M Leadership Academy to name a few. I have provided team building sessions for multiple teams in the area. When I laid in the bed for 5 months begging God to let me join my son, I realized that God had given me the blueprint to make it but I had to make the choice to live fully. I really felt like maybe I had been naive in thinking that people could heal from something like this. I felt like a hypocrite- like I had been lying to kids all these years. I decided to put into practice some of the lessons I had taught my students and athletes to see if I could make it out of the darkness into the light. I had always said that it was what I did with my kids off the field that made them as good as they were. It was true.
My husband and I started the Damani Gibson Foundation to save lives and change lives. We Save lives by raising awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest, providing free heart screenings, CPR & AED training, and speaking to teams and groups. We change lives by providing leadership training, Keynote speeches, support healing from trauma, college and career scholarship, and leadership conferences.
True leadership can’t be confined by boundaries. I am not at one school anymore so I am able to have an even larger impact by working with teens, coaches and leaders all over the country.
Things have come full circle for me. I was groomed to be a leader, speaker, a person who helps people find and achieve their fullest potential propelled by hardships in life.
I am living proof for anyone- youth or adult that we can make it through anything.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Prior to Losing my 17 years old son, I thought I had obstacles in my life. I’ve truly been through a lot that could have easily caused me to break. Now losing him is the only hardship that stands out. Everything else pales in comparison. It is the worst thing that could ever happen to a parent. The pain is indescribable. I had flashbacks of the day I lost him for a while. And all the what if’s ran through my head over and over until I was hanging on by a thread. When I lost Damani it was like I lost my light and was engulfed in darkness.
I have always been aware that suffering existed. I grew up in Chicago and I’d seen a lot in my years but nothing prepared me for this. As a coach, I’ve worked with kids who’ve lost siblings or parents and I’ve always encouraged them to take the steps toward healing including facing their pain and sharing their stories. I’ve helped kids heal from witnessing their parent’s suicides, murders, siblings murdered, abuse, neglect, you name it. So at my lowest point, it was my own lessons and God’s mercy that helped me find my way out of the darkness back into the light. In fact, it was my son’s light that lived on through others that reignited my own flame. It is then that I realized how little we know about life until we come face to face with death. A person never truly dies if the light they shared with others lives on. I decided that I must share my light. Share my experience. Share my journey.
I spoke publicly about overcoming obstacles when life was going fine for me. Anybody can do that. The real test is can you still do good for others and speak about healing even when times are not so good. Anyone can say God is good when times are good but the test is can you say it when you’re at your lowest point- when waking up is a challenge and it hurts to breathe. Before this, I spoke because I wanted to… now I speak because I have to. God put a light in all of us. But the light was not put there to shine- it was put there for us to share our light with others. To ignite greatness in others. To illuminate the path through darkness for those that come behind us. In the beginning, I was asking why me?! Then I started thinking of all the people who are dealing with similar losses as me and I began asking why anyone?! Pain exists in this world. It is real. But pain should not stop us from fulfilling our purpose. Pain can propel purpose if we let it.
I was such a positive person before this. I shared motivational quotes and affirmations daily. All of my social media carries the name 1inspiredcoach. I hated that name after losing my son. I didn’t want to see a motivational quote because it all felt like lies. I thought positive, I helped others selflessly, I was doing what I felt God gave me as a purpose and still I lost my son! Actually, I was with one of my athletes counseling her on the fact that death was a part of life in response to her fear about losing her mother to cancer a short 30 minutes prior to my son’s passing. I was so bitter afterwards that I swore I’d never speak publicly or work with youth again since I did so much for other children and God took my own child from me. A friend visited me and when I told him I didn’t plan to Coach again he told me “you’ll always be a coach you’re just a different type of Coach now. Your experience has prepared you for a bigger calling.”
I do know that our thoughts are powerful and that healing is a choice. Life is short but legacy is not determined by years lived but by the lives that were touched. I plan to live the rest of my life with purpose to leave a legacy for my family. I write about my healing process and other topics on my blog doitfordamani.com/blog.
Please tell us about Damani Gibson Foundation.
At the Damani Gibson Foundation we provide keynote presentations and speeches to help people overcome trauma and fulfill their purpose. We provide leadership trainings, teacher trainings, and team building for groups. We are hosting a leadership conference for youth June 4th with special guest keynote speaker Eric Thomas. We raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and provide talks to teams about how to prevent and respond to Sudden Cardiac Arrest and provide CPR AED trainings.
For years I operated as 1inspiredcoach but now with Damani Gibson Foundation serving youth and their leaders has a deeper meaning. I wakeup everyday with an urgency to make the most out of every day because I know now better than ever that tomorrow isn’t promised. Any day could be my last day and I want to be sure that I did everything on that day to impact someone else’s life and leave a LEGACY.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe luck has been a factor. I believe God has blessed me with some wonderful experiences including the opportunity to be the mother to 2 amazing young men and while Damani is not physically here, he was an amazing gift for 17 beautiful years and that itself is a blessing. In my days of grief, I surrendered to God’s will and decided that since I was still living that I would live with purpose. At first, I struggled understanding my newfound purpose. Then I realized it was not new at all. Everything I experienced up to this point of my life prepared me for this very moment. I hate it. But I have no choice but to accept it and share the light that He put in me.
Contact Info:
- Website: Doitfordamani.com
- Email: admin@doitfordamani.com
- Instagram: @1InspiredCoach
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.
com/DoItForDamani/?ref= bookmarks - Twitter: https://mobile.
twitter.com/1inspiredcoach - Other:
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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=
ZpW7U1cvmdk https://youtu.be/Lz2ipwvcPaE,
https://www.doitfordamani.com/ blog
Image Credit:
Siobhan Photography, Ryan Bytton, Sherri Juniel
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