MORE THAN A SPORT
Faith in the game
After her fi refi ghter father was severely injured on the job, Faith Dowling and her family have continued to draw inspiration from their shared love of volleyball by Jennifer Armson-Dyer
STRONG BOND: Faith Dowling and her injured father Bill share a love of sports.
M
any forces shape who you are when you’re young. Parents, teachers, friends, coaches and school can all be elements. But then there can be life-altering events that don’t just shape you, they have a profound impact on who you become.
For Faith Dowling, a 15-year-old vol- leyball player from Houston, life and the path she is taking forever changed on May 31, 2013. That’s the day that her fi refi ghter father,
Captain William “Iron Bill” Dowling, was one of 14 people severely injured in a blaze that destroyed a motel and killed four in Houston. It has been called the deadliest day in the history of the Houston Fire Depart- ment. Trapped under debris, Bill was burned so badly he lost both of his legs and suffered
a brain injury from lack of oxygen. He spent six weeks in an induced coma and six months in the hospital.
The family temporarily relocated to be closer to Bill and his recovery. Instead of withdrawing and letting emotions get the best of her, Faith channels her energy into her favorite outlet: volleyball. Volleyball has always been a family sport for the Dowlings. Faith’s mom, Jacki, played collegiately at Houston Baptist Uni- versity in Texas, and Bill was as big a fan as they come, taking videos of daughter Faith’s tournaments and making movies for the family when they came home from an event. The day before the tragic fi re, the entire family was at the local sand courts. Bill jumped right into the game that day, playing alongside Faith and her friends. “We always played volleyball together,”
Faith says.
Faith has taken the circumstances in the best way imaginable: With positivity and a maturity often found in someone years older. Volleyball helps. “It’s something I can go to and not have to worry about anything else,” she says. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot since the accident. I don’t have to depend on people as much as I used to.”
In fact, it’s the other way around now. Faith takes a larger responsibility in her dad’s care, including helping when he’s transferred from one place to another and being there for him emotionally when he gets upset.
“The nurses come in and help feed him and care for him, but no one really under- stands him like we do, what he wants or what he needs,” Faith says. “We understand
“When we take Bill to Faith’s practices or games,
that’s when we see him smile the most. To me, that’s therapy.” Jackie Dowling on her family’s relationship to volleyball
28 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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