() — NewsChannel 6’s Black Excellence 365 recognizes inspiring black individuals and organizations in the CSRA throughout the year. Recipients are honored with the Mary L. Jones Black Affirmation Award. For February, we honor Tyler Taylor.

Tyler spent his childhood shooting hoops in his Warrenton, Georgia, yard, looking up to NBA legend Ray Allen. But at 16, his world shifted. One morning, he woke up—and something wasn’t right. “I noticed that the sole of my feet and the palm of my hands were becoming numb,” he recalled. “And it was just like an insatiable pain.” “I’m thinking, I will go to the doctor, I will get checked out, hey, they’ll be able to fix the issue. But it was the complete opposite.”

Doctors at WellStar/MCG found a tumor in his spine. Surgery was his only option, but bouncing back—that was the real challenge. “I couldn’t walk at all,” Tyler shared. “I was confused. The therapist was confused. And the neurosurgeon said, ‘Well, whenever we do surgery in your neck, or surgery takes place in your neck, it messes with your motor skills. It messes with your nerves.'”

Months of therapy followed. Tyler had to relearn everything—walking, eating, even recognizing his own body. “I was an infant all over again where I didn’t know when I needed to urinate and defecate,” he said. “I couldn’t tell where my arms were, without opening my eyes.”

But he refused to let the setbacks define him. Basketball was still on his mind—and a hospital worker’s words gave him hope. “He said, ‘You’ll be back soon,’ he recalled. ‘You’ll be able to give me your tape. I know a few scouts.’ So, in my mind, oh yeah, I’ll only be here for a week. You know, I was imagining myself playing basketball.”

These days, Tyler shares his story to lift up young people facing their own struggles. He’s out at youth events, showing them what resilience really looks like. “A lot of people are just… even people who aren’t experiencing physical challenges or disabilities… they’re saying, ‘Man, I had a really hard day, but I see that you’re still pushing, you’re still going, you’re still grinding. And it’s giving me the confidence to go into work happy.'”

Now 30, he shares workout videos to maintain strength after surgery. He wrote Miracle’s Journey to Greatness and he’s working on a series to break the stigma around physical challenges. “So, for 30 nights straight, I wrote a poem and end up creating a book. I made the cover, publish it, hired an editor. And from there I published it on Amazon.”

Tyler pursued degrees in both psychology and cybersecurity. He views his journey as proof that perseverance in education can lead to unexpected opportunities. “When it was time for me to graduate with a cybersecurity degree, they said, ‘Well, if you take two more classes, you’ll have a psychology degree as well.’ So, it’s kind of like hitting two birds with one stone, as they call it. I managed to succeed in that as well.”

He’s not back in sports just yet—but swimming and wheelchair basketball? That’s on his radar. Now, he’s looking to take his message even further—into schools and beyond. “I just want to inspire people and let them know they can do all things. Keep trusting in God and believing that great things are possible. And you’ll see what happens in the end.”

For his resilience and determination, turning challenges into motivation for others, Tyler receives this month’s Black Affirmation Award.