Never Go Unheard: Mexia girl dominating sports as she overcomes hearing disability

MEXIA, Texas (KWTX) – Lamariah Parrish, 7, of Mexia, is like any young child you would meet. She’s full of wonder, loves her siblings and loves to play sports.

She’s also the running back for her flag football team, a little dribblers basketball champion, and a track star.

The difference between her and her teammates is that Lamariah can‘t hear. And while some would see it as a roadblock in parts of her life, it’s a hurdle Lamariah has already cleared.

Her mother, Jameshia Gamble, was already a mom of two when Lamaria was born and she says nothing was different from previous deliveries. Lamariah even passed the newborn hearing test, twice, according to her doctor at the time.

“We didn’t really find out she was deaf until she turned two. She was delayed in walking and she wasn’t speaking,” Gamble said.

A trip to Children‘s Medical Center in Dallas changed their lives as they were able to better understand Lamariah’s world.

Even though Lamariah‘s mom worried about her not being on track with other kids her age, at the time, she says once Lamariah started moving, you couldn’t slow her down.

“When she did track two years ago she was coming in first in all of her races,” Gamble explains. “So I said, wait, I’m gonna start putting her in everything else. So we started track, then we went from track to basketball. This is her first year doing football and she has scored a few touchdowns during those games.”

And Lamariah’s need for speed makes her the MVP. Just in 2024 alone, she has won medals in all three sports.

Brittne‘a Jones is one of Lamariah’s coaches and she says it‘s not everyday that you work with an athlete who can’t hear, and that her as a coach and the other teammates are seeing a different side of what it means to work as a team.

“Some of them kind of help place her in her spot sometimes when she can’t hear. Or on hut, they can’t hear them when they say hut to her to go so her sister might tap her on the back,” Jones says.

Lamariah finding sports and this community has melted away every fear her mother ever had.

“That was my prayer everyday. To please let her be treated like a normal child and it just so happens that she’s fast in track and we went from there and everybody loves her,” Gamble says.

And even though Lamariah‘s world is quiet, her personality isn’t. The adults in her life saying they have learned more from Lamariah than they could ever teach her. And it is giving them nothing but hope for her future.

“I want her to keep pressing through. She doesn’t let anything hold her back and if they can do it, she can do it,” Gamble says. “Remember her name, Lamariah Parrish, you may see her in the Olympics one year.”

“I just hope that she keeps going. That she doesn’t stop and never lets her impairment get in the way,” Jones says.

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