The Illinois Matmen story below republished with approval:


Bryan Medlin couldn’t believe it.

No way it was happening to him.

As the Washington wrestling coach raced home on the afternoon of Dec. 22, nearly 15 minutes away from his house Medlin (standing in photo above) saw smoke off in the distance and it became painfully real.

His home and his family’s possessions were burning to the ground, and Medlin was forced to watch.

“It was surreal,” he said. “It’s kind of a zig-zag path to our house from the school and it’s all farmland, so every turn I took I got a different view. I was just looking at the smoke the whole time, and I knew it was going to be bad.”

The Medlins’ home had caught fire and, all of a sudden, the family of five was homeless – three short days before Christmas.

“Driving up, I had to compose myself because I knew my family was going to need me,” Medlin said. “I knew that I was going to have to be strong and that I was going to have to suck up a lot of things and not be very emotional.”

Life as he knew it had changed.

Click here to finish the story on the lllinois Matmen website