Proving herself right: Davie goalie Danika Williams, a double amputee, earns praise

Danika Williams, the goalie for Davie County High School’s lacrosse team, has recently earned all-conference honors for the second straight year. And she’s accomplished it despite losing both legs as an infant.   

Williams has played basketball, softball, and even been behind the wheel at drag races, but lacrosse is the sport where she decided to put her focus.

“There was never really a sport that I could just like, go to and do and get my mind off stuff," she says. "If I'm having a bad day, I go play lacrosse. If I'm stressed, I go play lacrosse. So it genuinely felt like home. And I was like, I'm committing to this sport because I want to get better. And I want to get my name out there.”

Williams spoke with Wake Forest University student Lauren Carpenter for WFDD. 

Interview Highlights

On what she's learned from lacrosse:

"It definitely taught me discipline and time management, because I want to go and play in college. So it's already getting me ready for that. Because I think time management is one of the like hardest things I struggle with ... So, going into lacrosse, there's not many people that look like me. So at first, I thought it was not going to be an accepting sport at all. But like, the feedback has just been amazing. And there is some downfalls, of course. You're gonna have people bring you down, but you're not doing your job if you don't have haters. When I'm playing a sport, I push myself further. I know I have to have certain grades. And I know if I want to do this in college, my grades can't be lacking. So it helps me in the classroom ... I always used to say that, like, 'I'll prove people wrong.' But now my memo is like, 'I'm not doing it to prove people wrong. I'm doing it to prove myself right.'"

On how it felt being named all-conference for a second time:

"I've had two lacrosse seasons. So they announced that made all-conference again this season. As a goalie mentally, you can get really down on yourself. You're the only one in your position. You're trying to stop a ball, like a tiny ball coming 80 miles per hour at you. So it's really hard. It's really easy to get mentally down. So you're sometimes you can stand there and be like, 'I'm doing all this work for nothing.' And then like when stuff comes out like that, that I made all-conference two years in a row, it just like puts like, 'I'm doing this for a reason.'"

On having her legs amputated as a child:

"When I was born, I was missing the tibia. It's genetic. So my mom had one leg like me and then one leg like you. So I was missing the tibia, the big bone in both my legs. So it's either be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life or get my legs amputated. So that's just what my mom decided because that's what she did ... For the, like people that are different — and the people that think that they can't do something because they're different — I want to say like, just go out there and do it. Like once you do it, it will show everybody you can do it and just prove yourself right. You're not trying to prove yourself to anyone. And it's really hard to be different in wanting to play a sport. But once you do it, you will get out there and you'll kill it. So I think, like, don't give up. And even if you don't want to play a sport and you're interested in doing something else, just put your time and effort towards it and just put the work in and you'll be amazing. I think that a lot of people, like people with disabilities or anything like that think that they can't do things. I think that's like, not true at all."

On where her support comes from:

So my family definitely is, like, number one. But I would say coaches from other schools, because I would say my coaches give me a lot of support, yes. But when other coaches recognize your skill and other players recognize your skill that don't see you every day, it really motivates me. And also just social media, like people that have reached out and just been like you're awesome or like share my story or share my articles. That's what keeps me going.

On her plans after Davie County High School:

I think I'm gonna go to Brevard [College] and play lacrosse and major in business. I love the team environment. I love the academics. I love everything about it. So I'm pretty set on that. So that's probably where I'm going to go."