Perseverance: Holden’s Quiet Battle

By Founder Annie B. Carter

Perseverance is often described as the ability to keep going when things are difficult. For my son Holden, perseverance was not a motivational phrase or a lesson in a book. It was simply the way he lived his life.

Holden was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when he was just five years old. At an age when most children are learning to tie their shoes and ride bikes, Holden was learning how to manage a chronic illness. His daily routine quickly became anything but typical. At one point he was taking 24 pills a day. To control the disease, he was often placed on high doses of steroids. The medications caused his face to swell and affected his disposition in ways that were difficult for a young child to understand. Doctor’s appointments, treatments, and hospital visits became part of his normal.

Yet even as a young boy, Holden had a dream. He wanted to play college soccer. And beyond that, he dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player. However, Crohn’s disease did not make that dream easy.

For years, Holden received eight-hour infusions of medication every four weeks at the hospital that helped control his symptoms. When the treatment worked, it gave him a window of normalcy. But eventually the medication stopped working the way we had hoped. There were hospital stays. There was surgery. There were days filled with pain and uncertainty.

What many people never knew was that Holden carried this burden quietly.

He never told friends, coaches, or even teammates about his Crohn’s disease. He worried that if people knew the truth, they might feel sorry for him, question his ability as a soccer player, or simply stop including him in activities.

Holden never wanted sympathy. He only wanted the opportunity to compete. So he pushed forward, determined to prove—mostly to himself—that his disease would not define him.

Years later, as a young adult, Holden shared something with me that as his mother broke my heart. He told me that he could not remember a day in his life without pain. Yet in the same breath he said something that captured his spirit perfectly. He told me that he had always just kept going because he did not feel like he could give up.

That was Holden.

While others saw a diagnosis, Holden saw a challenge to overcome. He trained, practiced, and pursued his dream with a quiet determination that amazed me. Soccer was never just a sport to him. It was his purpose, motivation, and pure joy in life.

As his mother, I had my own version of perseverance.

When Holden hurt, I hurt. When treatments failed, the worry was constant. I spent countless hours researching, asking questions, and searching for the next possible path forward. I refused to give up on finding a way to help him get better.

That search eventually took us to the Mayo Clinic, where we met a wonderful doctor who helped guide us to a clinical trial at UNC.

At that point, we were out of traditional options. Holden essentially became a guinea pig in a new treatment trial. As a mother, it was terrifying. The unknown always is. But sometimes perseverance means stepping forward even when the path is uncertain.

That trial helped change Holden’s life.

It gave him the stability and health he needed to keep chasing his dream. It allowed him to compete at the highest levels, to play college soccer, and ultimately to reach the professional stage he had worked toward for so many years.

But Holden never allowed Crohn’s disease to define who he was or what he believed was possible. He was never a patient first. He simply was a competitor, a teammate, a son, brother, and fiancé. He was a young man with extraordinary determination.

His journey is a powerful reminder that perseverance is not always loud or flashy. Often it is quiet. It is the decision to keep moving forward, one step at a time, even when the path is difficult.

Holden lived that lesson every single day.

And now, in many ways, I am trying to live it too. In the midst of losing him, I continue to move forward even when the path without him feels incredibly hard. The perseverance Holden showed throughout his life continues to guide me, reminding me that even through pain and uncertainty, we keep going.

That is also why I created Goal 13.

Our mission is to help young student-athletes develop the resilience, leadership, and values they will need both on and off the field. Athletics can teach powerful life lessons, but those lessons do not always come during the easy moments. They come through adversity, through setbacks, and through the decision to keep going when the path becomes difficult.

Holden’s life embodied those lessons. There were ups and downs. There were many disappointments, but he kept pushing forward.

Through Goal 13, we hope to inspire young athletes to pursue their dreams with courage, to support one another as teammates, and to build the inner strength that will carry them through life’s challenges.

Just as Holden refused to let Crohn’s disease define him, we want young athletes to understand that obstacles do not limit their future.

Character does.

Perseverance does.

And sometimes the greatest victories happen not on the scoreboard, but in the quiet decision to keep moving forward.

Holden showed us what that looks like.

Through Goal 13, we hope his example will inspire the next generation to do the same.