Preston Hutchinson sometimes wonders why.
An admitted deep thinker, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga quarterback struggles with questions he can’t immediately answer. One of those involves his younger cousin Trey Couch.
Couch was a starting quarterback as a kid, but about a decade ago he was diagnosed with cerebellar degeneration, a process in which nerve cells in the cerebellum, a part of the brain controlling movement, deteriorate and die. Now 20 years old and a student at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Couch’s “body is failing,” said Hutchinson, who added that his cousin has double vision and will soon be confined to a wheelchair.
The cousins talk every day, but it’s Hutchinson who leaves the conversations with questions.
“I’ll never have to face things he’s facing,” he said. “Just knowing that he’s already faced worse than I’ll ever face instills a bunch of confidence in me, knowing that I can do anything, seeing what he’s battled through.”