When she was first recruited to play wheelchair basketball at the University of Alabama Elisha Williams had no desire to leave the comfortable life she was building for herself in her hometown.
"The coach had been kind of bugging me to come down and play," said the Prince George product. "I was like I don't want to go back to school. I had a really good job and they're supportive in giving me time off and working around my basketball schedule."
At the time Williams was an alternate on the Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team. She told the coach if she made the team as a regular player she'd reconsider.
"Well I made the team," said Williams. "I realized that I did need to be somewhere if I wanted to be the best player I needed to be [that had] a training environment where I could train five or six days really hard with women.
"It was a big decision to quit my job at Northern Health because it was a lot of stability and I loved my coworkers," she added. "I'd just bought a house but it was just to not be afraid and never give up on your dream."
Williams headed to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to play for the Crimsom Tide. The women's wheelchair team were the two-time defending national champions before being upset by Whitewater out of Wisconsin in the championship game in 2012.
"I'm very fortunate that I've had this opportunity," said Williams. "It's been really fun living in the south. I've had some really good experiences and I've had some really scary experiences."
The scariest experience of her life came on April 27, 2011 when a tornado wiped out half of Tuscalossa.
"That was a terrifying experience and just a real eye opener," said Williams. "Afterwards helping out with the cleanup and dealing with people that have lost everything."
When they realized the tornado was coming Williams sent a text message to her dad Norm in Prince George to let him know she was OK before taking cover with some friends in the basement of one of the school buildings.
In Prince George it was a sleepless night at Norm and Nadine Williams' house and knowing their daughter was hiding in a basement didn't provide any comfort after learning just how lightweight the basements were in the south.
"Most of the basements don't have a concrete top in Tusscalossa so if the house gets lifted up and if you're in the basement you get sucked right up and you're gone," said Norm.
The tornado left several students dead and left dozens of people homeless when the winds bulldozed buildings.
"You look at it and you don't understand the power of nature," said Norm. "You think your child lived through it and was right there. That's too close for mom and dad."
After the storm ended Williams and some friends wandered around the ravaged streets helping out by clearing debris, cutting trees and trying to offer comfort to the community.
"It tells you what kind of a person she is," said Norm. "It changed her life. She realized how fragile life is."
Williams has one more year of studies and eligibility with the Crimson Tide before returning to Prince George in the spring of 2013.
