Austin Hatch, a 19-year-old high school student, has overcome tragedy during his journey to play basketball for the University of Michigan next year.
The Loyola High School in Los Angeles senior is the survivor of two horrific plane crashes that killed five members of his family in total, PEOPLE reported.
The first crash occurred in 2003, killing Hatch's mother, older sister and younger brother; the second crash in 2011 killed his father and stepmother. The two flights were in small single-engine planes piloted by Dr. Stephen Hatch, his father.
Austin Hatch sustained serious injuries in the 2011 crash, barely surviving after a serious head injury, broken ribs, a punctured lung and eight weeks in a coma.
"Waking up from the coma, I had no idea where I was," he told reporters at Loyola High. "I had no idea what year it was. It was just like being born. I had to learn how to walk and talk and eat. Over time, as my brain healed, I knew what happened, but it was 'Where's my dad? Where's my family?' That pain is never going to go away."
The former prep sports player of the year in Fort Wayne, Ind., his hometown, Hatch has been cleared by doctors to play basketball again. For now, he's opted out of playing with his Loyola High teammates in actual games to ensure that he's fully prepared when he gets back on the court.
"I don't want to be put in the game because of who I am," he said. "If I'm not going to help win basketball games I don't deserve to be out there."
While the emotional healing will never fully come, Hatch is grateful for his physical strides in recovery and believes that he survived for a purpose.
"If you look at what I've been through--two airplane accidents--I think God has his hand on me and that there is a plan for my life," he said.
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