In 1999, former Panthers receiver Rae Carruth was sentenced to prison for conspiring to kill his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams. On Monday, Nov. 16, their child, Chancellor Lee Adams, turned 16.
As you may recall, Adams, who would’ve turned 40 years old this year, was shot multiple times by Van Brett Watkins, a hitman hired by then-Carolina Panthers running back (1997 to 1999) because he didn’t want to pay child support. Adams, who later died in the hospital, was eight months pregnant and just 24 years old. Delivered 10 weeks early by emergency c-section, Chancellor was saved.
Today, the Charlotte high school student who beat the odds lives with his loving grandmother Saundra Adams, a woman who’s consistently preached forgiveness, not vengeance, since the Panthers first-round draft pick ripped her pregnant daughter away from her. “Chancellor is not just surviving,” his grandmother told the Charlotte Observer. “He is thriving.”
And while the teen’s life was saved, he battles daily with special needs and cerebral palsy, due to permanent brain damage caused by the loss of blood and oxygen the night Cherica was shot. He mostly uses a walker to get around and can communicate. Chancellor is “able to feed himself some” and dress himself “with minimal assistance,” Adams added.
“I’ve never treated Chancellor like he’s disabled,” she continued of her grandson, who roots for the Panthers and loves horseback riding. “I treat him like he’s ‘abled’ differently.”
Carruth, on the other hand, is still in jail for conspiring to commit murder. However, he’s scheduled for release on Oct. 22, 2018. Surprisingly, Adams desires to see her grandson reunite with his father when he’s released.
“The main reason I want Rae and Chancellor to one day have a relationship is because [Chancellor] is his son,” Adams said. “And that’s why I chose early on that I would forgive Rae. Because I don’t feel like I can offer unconditional love to Chancellor if I don’t forgive Rae. That’s his father. It’s a part of him. Chancellor wouldn’t be who he is without Rae. I want them to bond, or at least to meet again.”
Sadly, it appears the former NFL star and his family have yet to reach that milestone, as neither Carruth nor any of his family members have contacted Chancellor or his grandmother. “They are all missing out on the wonderful person that is Chancellor Lee Adams,” Adams said. But Adams isn’t at all bitter about the situation. “I choose to cherish what I have left more than mourn what I have lost. Cherica is not gone. I look at Chancellor and I see her,” she added.
What do you think of Chancellor’s story? Sound off in the comment section below.
