ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan football wide receiver Roman Wilson is preparing for the 2023 college football season with a heavy heart.
The Honolulu, Hawaii native has been watching what’s going on in his home state, as the island of Maui has been ravaged by wildfires. The town of Lahaina has been particularly devastated, with it being completely destroyed, the death toll having risen to 55 on Thursday evening.
So, while Wilson is focusing on the task at hand for him, thousands of miles away in Ann Arbor, the moment he gets out of practice, the reality of what’s happening in his native Hawaii hits him — though he admits, he’s still in a state of disbelief.
“Just coming out of practice, checking my phone and people are texting me like, ‘Are you OK? Is your family OK?’ And I’m just like, I can’t — it’s awful.
“People I grew up with, their homes are gone. And people are asking me like, ‘What can I do to help? Like, what do they need?’ They need everything. Your car’s gone, your house is gone, all your belongings, everything they owned, it’s gone. A place that I grew up, I can’t go back and visit. Like, it’s just gone. There’s nothing there.
“It’s been funny to say, I’ve had a lot of bad stuff happen in my life. But I mean, it’s hard to deal with. I don’t think it’s gonna really hit me until I go back and visit and just see how much it’s changed. Some of it’s still going on right now. Man, it just sucks.”
Michigan receiver and Hawaii-native Roman Wilson discusses the devastation in his home state (HT @isaiahhole) pic.twitter.com/LRlvf8bUhA
— angelique (@chengelis) August 11, 2023
Wilson is from Oahu, which is two islands away from Maui, where the devastation has been particularly reigning. So while his home isn’t in danger, it still hits home, what’s happening.
“It’s like kind of the other side of the island but it’s really like the whole place,” Wilson said. “The fires are spreading everywhere.”
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