Nov. 15, 2019 is a day that 18-year-old Isaiah Green will always remember, for all the wrong reasons.
Green, a 2016 graduate of Saint Michael Regional School in Clayton and a 2020 graduate of Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, recently published “Through My Eyes: Football, Faith, Fear & Humility,” an account of that fall day where a gunman’s bullets rang out during a Friday night high school football game between Pleasantville and Camden.
The aftermath of that Pleasantville night saw one 10-year-old boy dead, and a juvenile and who is believed to be the intended target injured (the alleged shooter, Alvin Wyatt, 31, of Atlantic City, pleaded not guilty in February to murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference Nov. 16).
Green was attending the game with his grandfather, an alumnus of Camden High who frequently supports his alma mater on the gridiron.
His book recalls the atmosphere of cheers and shouted play calls that were replaced by screams and fear once he heard gunshots pierce the autumn air.
The experience had him thinking about his own mortality and the life he wanted to live. A few months after the shooting, as the high-schooler was still processing it all, the coronavirus hit the United States, with sickness and death in its wake. As well, Green and his senior classmates were deprived of in-person instruction, along with the usual end-of-high school hallmarks: a senior prom, a graduation.
Around April or May, Green began putting thoughts and pen to page, and soon completed a 72 page manuscript. It became available on Amazon in August.
“I wanted to do something. … I didn’t want this to be another story that was forgotten,” he says.
Currently a freshman at Rowan University, Green is majoring in criminal justice. He also hopes to be certified someday as an evangelical pastor.
Last week, he returned to Paul VI High School to sign copies of his book.
To purchase “Through My Eyes: Football, Faith, Fear & Humility,” visit amazon.com, or e-mail IsaiahGreen824@gmail.com
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