Updated-
From Sierra Wynk (Parker’s mom)
8-25-26
I don’t even know how to begin to say thank you.
Every time I try, I cry and cry some more.
In one of the hardest and most uncertain moments our family has ever walked through, we have watched an entire community rise up and surround Parker and our family with a kind of love that we will never, ever forget.
You have prayed. And prayed. And prayed some more.
You have painted the town green. You’ve written #8 and Pray for Parker on cars and windows. You have posted and reposted updates about our son. Teams and kids who barely know Parker are wearing his number, praying for him and playing for him. Businesses have created fundraisers. Shirts, bands, keychains have been made. People have simply Venmoed us money because they wanted to help. Foundations have reached out offering help with medical expenses. A meal train has been organized for TWO MONTHS.
There are things being done for our family that we probably don’t even know about yet.
And somehow, every time we think we have seen the full extent of your generosity, someone does something else.
We are completely overwhelmed.
And Parker’s friends and teammates… goodness.
After playing an emotional football game without him, they showed up at the hospital at 1:00 in the morning.
They were tired. It was late. They had just finished a game. And none of that mattered.
They just wanted to be here for their friend.
These are kids trying to process something incredibly difficult themselves, and yet their instinct was simply, We need to go be with him.
They have prayed for him, played for him, cried for him, spoken beautiful words about the friend and teammate he has been to them, and continued to show up.
As his mom, there simply aren’t words for what that means to me.
Thank you for loving our boy. Thank you for being his brothers.
And then came the prayer service.
Hundreds of people showed up simply to pray for our son.
Hundreds.
Friends. Family. Classmates. Teammates. Coaches. Teachers. People from our church, people from other churches and people from all across our community gathered together and lifted Parker’s name to Heaven.
Our pastor, who has a personal relationship with Parker and loves our family so well, stood before our community and shared the Gospel of Jesus.
A dear sister in Christ sang her heart out in worship and led Parker’s friends, family, classmates, teammates and our community in worship and prayer.
I can’t even. I can’t even.
I just keep crying in gratitude.
To know that all of this is happening because people love our son is overwhelming enough. But to know that in the middle of Parker’s suffering, the name of Jesus is being proclaimed, people are hearing the Gospel, hundreds are praying together and Christ is being glorified…
There are no words.
God continues to amaze me.
And then there are our people. Our family and our closest friends.
While Gary and I have been able to focus on Parker, you have simply stepped into our lives and started carrying everything else.
You set up the GoFundMe. You organized the meal train. You have left your own families and responsibilities to come be with ours. You have driven back and forth to the hospital, shuttled our kids so they can be with their brother and then taken them home again. You have made sure they are fed, loved, hugged and cared for when Gary and I can’t be there to do it ourselves.
Our parents, sisters, brothers, extended family and closest friends have stepped into every possible gap — while so many more of you are waiting in the wings saying, “Just tell me when. I’ll be there.”
You aren’t waiting for us to figure out what we need.
You’re looking around, seeing it and doing it.
There is something incredibly humbling about realizing that when your world suddenly stops, the people who love you just start moving.
They drive the miles.
They take care of your children.
They bring the food.
They handle the things your brain can’t handle.
They sit beside you.
They cry with you.
They pray when you don’t have the words.
And sometimes they simply say,
“I’ve got this. You stay with Parker.”
I don’t think we will ever forget what that kind of love feels like.
And through ALL of this, I keep thinking about the hands and feet of Jesus.
This is what they look like.
They look like meals on a doorstep.
They look like a green #8 painted on a car window by sweet girls and friends.
They look like teenage boys walking into a hospital at 1:00 in the morning because their friend needs them.
They look like a girlfriend standing by your bedside helping you snap friends back.
They look like family dropping everything to care for your children.
They look like businesses asking, “What can we do?”
They look like people giving quietly and expecting absolutely nothing in return.
They look like hundreds of people gathering together to worship Jesus and lift our son’s name in prayer.
We have prayed so many times throughout our lives to see God at work.
Right now, in a situation we never would have chosen, He is showing Himself to us over and over again through all of you.
And now I need to ask you for one more thing.
Please keep praying. Please.
Parker continues to make improvements, sometimes even from hour to hour, and every bit of progress gives us more hope and reminds us to keep praying fervently.
But there is still so much healing that needs to happen.
Parker still cannot use his hands and cannot do much with his left leg.
As his mom, I can’t stop thinking about how scary it must be to look at your own hands or feet, want them to do something, tell them to do something — and have them not work.
So please, when you pray for Parker, pray specifically for his spinal cord to heal. Pray for the swelling and trauma to resolve. Pray for feeling, movement and control to return throughout his body. Pray for his hands. Pray that those fingers move. Pray for complete restoration.
Please keep lifting our boy to Jesus.
We believe in the power of prayer. We believe God hears every single one. We believe God can heal our Parker, and we are joining all of you in praying boldly and fervently for complete healing and restoration.
We don’t know exactly what the days, weeks and months ahead will hold.
But we know this:
We are not walking them alone. And neither is Parker.
To every person who has prayed, given, cooked, organized, painted, purchased, driven, called, texted, visited, cared for our children, supported Parker’s teammates, helped financially or simply stopped what you were doing and asked God to heal our boy:
We see you. We feel your prayers. We feel your love.
And we are receiving every bit of it with the most humbled and grateful hearts.
Someday, when Parker is able to really take all of this in, I cannot wait for him to understand just how many people stood behind #8.
Until then, we will keep telling him:
Parker, an entire community is praying for you. An entire community believes in you. An entire community loves you. And an entire community is waiting to welcome you home.
God knew long before we ever reached this moment exactly who we would need surrounding us.
And He gave us you.
From the deepest part of our hearts, thank you for loving Parker. Thank you for loving our family. Thank you for carrying us when we cannot carry all of this ourselves.
And most of all, thank you for continuing to pray.
We believe with all our hearts that God is still writing Parker’s story.
We are trusting Him one day, one hour, and sometimes one minute at a time.
And through it all, may Jesus be glorified.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2
We have never understood that verse quite like we do now.
With more love and gratitude than we could ever put into words,
The Wynk Family
Related–
Monday Update On Parker Wynk’s Condition
Stateline Sports Network 