Ward Webb is on the move. The Mountain Brook, Alabama, resident was born over 28 years ago, and from the start, his motor was stuck in fourth gear. From the age of 1 when he learned to walk, to the age of 4 when he learned to walk again, Ward Webb hasn’t had time to slow down.

“Ever since that day 24 years ago, I decided there was only one way to go, and that was forward,” Ward told me.

“He is so active,” said Ward’s girlfriend Taylor Graham.

Ward Webb’s zest for the outdoors is what attracted Taylor to him about nine years ago when they were students at the University of Alabama. “Ward loves the outdoors — he’s taught me how to turkey hunt and fish,” she said. “When I met Ward, I thought he was very handsome and humble — he’s just a really good guy. His drive for life is inspiring.”

While today Ward Webb’s drive for life is inspiring, he inspired the world with his drive to live on Aug. 16, 2001.

Ward and his friend Zachary were walking in a partially dried creek bed behind their Mountain Brook homes. “I don’t remember too much about that day, but I do remember Zachary holding a stick while I held a blue box of rubber snakes.

“I have no recollection of the significance of holding that box,” added Ward.

Boys were being boys.

They didn’t see the downed power line with 7,200 volts that was 3 inches off the ground, partially covered by a fallen tree. Zachary Downard brushed against the power line — the 6-year-old was killed, and 4-year-old Ward Webb was rushed to Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham where he was treated for third degree burns to his head, back and legs.

It wasn’t long before doctors took Ward’s feet just above the ankles.

“I remember waking up in the hospital and telling my mother (Marion) that I had a splinter in my toe,” said Ward. “I soon found out that I didn’t have feet.”

Mountain Brook mourned in the summer of 2001. One precious boy was sent to Children’s, while the other precious boy was sent to Heaven. Good neighbors in the hamlet just south of Birmingham stood by one another as the families did their best to cope.

He fought them at first. Ward Webb’s new prosthetics brought pain and defiance. He was home from the hospital, but it seemed that every other day he was headed back. Ward had more than 30 surgeries as doctors — including Dr. John Grant — performed skin grafts to his head, back and legs. Doctors later closed a hole in Ward’s head, and as the days and months wore on, Ward Webb tried his best to live his new normal.

“There was a lot of pain,” Ward told me. “There were a lot of hurdles. I broke my prosthetics several times, and because I was growing, I had to be re-fitted for new prosthetic feet every couple of years. But I had a great support system, and I decided if I wanted it bad enough, I had to go get it.”

Go get it he did. Despite the horrific accident, Ward was not going to be kept from the outdoors he loved. His father, Bill, was and is a fine outdoorsman, and young Ward Webb grabbed the fishing poles and rifles by the horns and proved to the world what a kid without two feet could accomplish.

He hunted and he fished. He skied, and he played soccer and basketball. And less than five years after he was injured, 9-year-old Ward Webb dove into the sport of football.

It was quite a sight to see. Ward moved up to middle school, and he became one of the toughest players on his team. “Opposing players would see my prosthetic feet and tell me they were hesitant to hit me,” said Ward. “Then I would lay a lick on them, and they would tell me they weren’t going to back down ever again,” Ward chuckled.

Middle school football was one thing, but varsity football? Ward’s motor kicked into high gear again, and before he knew it, he was playing linebacker for the Mountain Brook Spartans varsity football team. “I must have broken 15 pairs of legs,” said Ward. “Finally, the folks at Biotech Limb and Brace made special prosthetics for me, and I didn’t break another.”

The Mountain Brook linebacker was turning heads, his dedication and resolve admired. “Ward came to me and told me he wanted to soak up life,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager told me. Ward Webb was 17 years old and he found himself doing more than soaking up life — he was soaking up big moments on the football field, one of which Coach Yeager can remember to this day.

“We were playing a really good Minor High School team featuring Christion Jones, who would go on to star for the Crimson Tide,” Coach Yeager told me. “It was near the end of the game, and Minor was trying to pull out the win. Jones caught a screen pass, and as he was zig-zagging down the field, a Minor player hit Ward so hard that he knocked off Ward’s feet. The Minor players on the sideline thought that Ward’s feet really came off. You should have seen the looks on their faces. Meanwhile, Ward continued to chase down Christion Jones while on the stubs of his legs. He reached out and tripped Christion up.

“We won the football game.”

Yes, Ward Webb had a motor, alright — and as he headed to the University of Alabama, he would continue to seek the outdoors. After graduation, he headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he soaked it all in as a fishing guide. Years later, he moved back to Alabama. He’s been working as a site contractor, and his love of nature continues to carry him outside often.

“Ward is a go-getter,” Ward’s good friend John Eagan told me. “When we hunt, I do everything I can do to keep up with him. When he decides to do something, he just does it. He’s been working out and dieting — he’s a beast.”

Said Franklin Brown, another good friend, “Ward is by far the greatest outdoorsman I have ever seen. People who go hunting and fishing with him have no idea he is handicapped. He’s just rock solid.”

And now, about Ward Webb’s decision on what comes next: “I’ll be moving to Idaho next month to work as a fly fishing guide at The Lodge at Palisades Creek,” said Ward. I’ll be located at the South Fork of the Snake River,” Ward added, sounding like he was ready to hop in his truck and head west.

Twenty-four years after a terrible accident, 28-year-old Ward Webb is ready to push the limits even more. “Taylor and I have some big things ahead,” said Ward, making me wonder if Ward might soon be popping the question.

“Ward inspires me every day,” said Taylor, her voice sounding light and in love.

He’s the young man with a motor that won’t quit.

“If you want something bad enough, just go ahead and take it,” said Ward, as I asked him what message he wants to bring the world.

I thanked Ward for his time, while Ward thanked me back before he hung up the phone.

Ward Webb was on the move again.

*Rick Karle, who writes a weekly ‘Good News’ story, is a 25-time Emmy winner and a 43-year veteran of broadcast news who has lived and worked in Alabama for 35 years. You can find his work on Facebook at Rick Karle Good News. Send your story suggestions to: [email protected]