Family celebrates son, high school graduate playing football with Navy

    CINCINNATI (WLWT) -- Fifteen years ago, a community came together to give the Ingle family an extreme home makeover for their growing family.

The Ingle family had three biological children and had adopted 12 more, most of whom had special needs.

William Ingle looks like the All-American kid. He was a two-sport athlete at Sycamore High School, captain of the football team and rushed for nearly 2,000 yards to lead the conference as a quarterback.

"I'm just an ordinary kid, blessed with an extraordinary life," William said.

Now, William just completed his sophomore season at Navy, playing special teams. An outsider looking in would have no idea that he was born into a situation where he wasn’t given a chance.

“His picture was sent to me through a friend who had already adopted from Liberia in West Africa, and she said, this sweet little boy is waiting for a family, and nobody wants him because of his HIV status,” Heather Ingle said.

In 2007, there was a lot of misinformation about HIV and AIDS. William had tested positive three times, and the thought of someone adopting him from an orphanage in Africa seemed hopeless.

That is until Heather, a mother in Montgomery, got that email.

“He deserved a family, and it was something we were willing to do,” Heather said.

Heather had already adopted eight other children with special needs.

"It was a precious moment that I'll never ever forget, seeing his face, and then of course, it took days and days and days for him to begin to show any facial expressions,” Heather Ingle said.

When the family got back to the United States and went through testing at an adoption clinic, another miracle was found.

“He was negative, and I was like, maybe you should test him again, maybe it was false, and it wasn't, they tested multiple times,” Heather said.

William knows how lucky he is, and he takes none of it for granted. That’s why he chose Navy and why they chose him.

“Just the opportunity to give back to a country that's given me such an amazing opportunity, I think it was a given for me,” William Ingle said.

Honor. Courage. Commitment. The Navy’s motto could not be more fitting for Ingle, who wants to make an even bigger difference off the field.

Next year, William hopes to be one of Navy’s best running backs. Once his career is over, he plans to serve the country.