Guy Thomas Arrives in Lincoln with Belief and Motivation from His Late Mother

Mavric · June 5, 2017

He was just 15 when the worst news came. It was the first week of 2015.

Mariska Nyon, a Suriname emigrant, had gone back to her native land just a few months before.

It is hard to say with exactness what happened. She had just been there two or three months, as York recalls, but when as she returned home she felt her breathing cutting short.

"It just got a hold to her," York said "It was like a parasite in her. It just made her weak. She couldn't walk as much."

There were times when it appeared her health was improving. But then, just as quickly, it turned completely the other way, with her lungs failing her.

On the day he committed to Nebraska, way back on Aug. 4, a commitment he would honor, Thomas had her at the top of his mind as usual, telling the Journal Star, "I know that my mom would tell me to keep working hard and push myself to my limit. She doesn't like lazy people and I’m not a lazy person. She wanted me to be successful and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Fast-forward to this week, the week he graduated, the week he begins a new chapter. Two days before he was to leave for Lincoln and move in with roommate Damion Daniels, he said thinking of her and his family only makes him go harder.

"One day I would like to be able to take care of my family," he said. "It's my biggest motivation."