One-armed teen baseball catcher grabs attention of professional athletes

CORNERSVILLE, Tenn. (FOX 13) - A high school baseball player in Tennessee plays ball with just one arm, and makes his look effortless.

Luke Terry plays catcher for his Cornersville High School team. In cell phone video, he is seen throwing the ball back to the mound and catching the ball with his left hand. In one motion, he flicks the ball up, drops his glove to the ground, and grabs the ball mid-air, throwing it back to the pitcher. 

Luke had his right armed amputated after he contracted E-. coli when he was 19 months old. His mother said he flatlined on the operating table three times.

"They put the PICC line in his arm [to treat the E. coli]," Terry’s mother, Dana, told The Tennessean. "And the bacteria went to his arm, where the PICC line was. It just started eating his arm away."

None of this has stopped the freshman from becoming one of the best and most competitive athletes on the team, according to his coaches and teammates. 

The cell phone video of Luke has attracted the attention of many athletes like Atlanta Braves star Chipper Jones and Deion Sanders, who played for the MLB and NFL. Both have since reached out to him personally.

The Baltimore Orioles even invited Terry to catch the first pitch at a game, FOX News reports. The high schooler now divides his time between catching and umpiring games.

Luke says he doesn't focus being an inspiration and just wants to play ball.

“I don’t even think about it,” Terry told The Tennessean about playing with one arm. “Fans tell me, ‘You’re an inspiration.’ They want me to go a long ways.”