Paralyzed Marine returns 'home' to Hylton for Hoops Fest

It’s not every day that Josh Himan is mobbed more than an NFL player.

But he certainly was Friday night in Dale City at the News & Messenger’s 16^th annual Hoops Fest.

Himan was at C.D. Hylton High School well after the basketball talent show ended, shaking hands. And receiving hugs. And posing for photos.

He even signed a few autographs.

Not too far away, fellow ex-Bulldog Deon Butler, now a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, was doing pretty much the same things. But the throng surrounding Butler, a 2009 third-round draft pick out of Penn State, was significantly smaller than the one around Himan.

“It’s all about him tonight,” said Butler, who played high school football with Himan. “People can watch me on TV and cheer me on, but that’s a true hero. I was honored that they thought of me, and I’m just glad to be a part of this.”

The sentiments were shared by those at Hoops Fest who gave Himan a standing ovation when he was introduced as the recipient of the event’s proceeds.

Himan, a 2002 Hylton graduate, was paralyzed from the chest down in September 2009 when an improvised explosive device exploded beneath the Humvee he was riding in while serving with the Marine Corps in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Since then, Himan has been receiving outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. His childhood home in Woodbridge needs an addition to provide access to the wheelchair-bound veteran, but the costs proved more than his family could handle.

However, after Friday’s event, which collected $10,000 from ticket sales, he’ll be much closer to being able to live comfortably at home.

“I want to thank everybody for helping support me, my family and all these great athletes,” Himan told the crowd in Hylton’s gym.

The total money brought in by Hoops Fest is expected to increase, too, as all donations hadn’t been tallied.

When he was approached to be the beneficiary of this year’s hoopla, Himan had but one request:

“The only thing I said was I wanted to be one of the dunk contest judges,” he said with a big grin.

That appeal was granted, of course, and he sat on a panel with fellow Hylton grads Butler, Brandon Allen, Mike Colangelo, Ariana Moorer and Darrell Patterson, grading the acrobatics of five area dunkers.

Throughout the evening, Himan was seated at midcourt with his family — father Jerry, mother Pat, brothers Jacob and Joel, and sister Sarah — as they watched the area’s best basketball players demonstrate their skills.

Himan was particularly touched by the support the crowd showed him. They applauded and cheered each time his name was mentioned.

“I spent so many hours and days of my life here [at Hylton] that this is home,” Himan said.

Said Pat Himan: “I saw people that I haven’t seen in 20 years. It’s amazing. And Deon, that made it so special. We go back a really, really long way, to when he was just a little kid and we loved him. That made it very, very special.”

And though he was the main celebrity that night — even more than his famous former teammate — Josh Himan expects even bigger things for himself down the line.

“I think that’s a first for me,” he said of outdoing Butler. “But I hope to become something other than just a wounded veteran in my lifetime.

“I hope that is just a minor thing.”

Staff writer Joe Conroy can be reached at 703-530-3912.