Murfreesboro community rallies around Oakland football player Eddie Willis after stroke

Rockvale junior Joseph "J.P" Perry was in the right place at the right time when his lifelong friend, Eddie Willis, suffered a stroke Monday while the two were fishing at a greenway near Willis' home.

But Perry downplayed his part in preventing what could have been even worse for Willis.

"Eddie is a strong kid," said Perry, who plays football for Rockvale. "He's probably one of the toughest kids I've known. He's played through injuries. I firmly believe, even if I wasn't there, he would have gotten up and made it home."

Friends, family and teammates have rallied behind Willis, a junior football player at Oakland, who is recovering at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The stroke wasn't life-threatening, but Willis, 16, will have a long road of rehabilitation ahead.

"He's doing OK," said Eddie's mother, Jessica Willis. "(Tuesday) we had a long day, a lot of testing. Today was a little more relaxed. He was able to get some sleep last night, which was good."

Perry said he was sick to his stomach and went to vomit and after being gone just a couple of minutes, he came back to find Willis "On the ground, trying to talk to me. He was slurring his words.

"He said he felt like he was having a seizure. I told him to get up and let's walk back."

Perry helped Willis home, and the family was able to get him to St. Thomas Rutherford hospital before ultimately getting transferred to Vanderbilt.

"He was a life-saver, possibly," Jessica Willis said. "I'm glad he was with Eddie and able to get him back to the house, where we could get him to the hospital and checked out."

Added Perry, "I was actually freaked out, but I was trying not to show it. I didn't want him freaking out."

The stroke has affected the left side of his body. His speech was initially affected, but Jessica Willis said that has cleared up since.

She also said that doctors haven't been able to pinpoint the cause of the stroke.

"He is a healthy kid ... fit and active and all of that," she said.

"Probably the last thing I would have thought was stroke," Perry added. "He said his arm and leg felt numb and the side of his face felt numb."

Oakland Coach Kevin Creasy was stunned by the news, particularly given Willis' age and health.

"I had just talked to (Willis) on the phone while he was fishing," Creasy said. "They said it happened just a few minutes later. It's weird. It's the first time I was checking up on him in awhile."

Many, including teammates, were on social media Wednesday asking for prayers and donations to help Willis in the recovery process.

"It makes you feel really good that people have you in their thoughts and prayers," Jessica Willis said. "He's a good kid, and he has friends all across Murfreesboro. He's got a lot of people thinking about him, and we're very fortunate for that."

Willis started for the Patriots in the secondary in 2019, and he recorded 59 tackles (three for loss), four pass deflections and a caused fumble.

He also had seven receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Jessica Willis said the plan was for him to do inpatient physical therapy and then be released relatively soon.

"All of this goes on progress and how he's doing," she said. "It's hard to give any kind of window as to when that will happen. Hopefully he can do everything and be safe to go home. He may have to do outpatient physical therapy."

Creasy said it would be a wait-and-see as far as if Willis would play football again.

"It's questionable if he'll be able to get back to 100 percent anytime soon," Creasy said.

Jessica Willis said, "That's a given," when asked if her son was already inquiring about playing football again.

"We have to get him healed better before we can go any further with that," she said.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.