Inspired by special needs brother, Poca’s Frampton playing for two

Luke Frampton knows when his older brother Nathaniel is in the building during one of his games.

He’ll hear the unmistakable grunts of “Let’s go Luke; let’s go Luke,” and they carry a lot more weight than mere encouragement.

It’s something few people other than Luke and his family will ever be able to fully understand.

Nathaniel, 22, was born with a rare syndrome that involves several disabilities including blindness, Cerebral Palsy and mental impairment.

He has a full life expectancy, but when he was an infant his parents were told that he would essentially live in a vegetative state, unable to walk, talk or have many other motor skills. He was unable to roll over as late as 18 months old.

But the family has diligently sought advanced physical therapy and Nathaniel can both talk some and gingerly walk – usually with assistance though he navigates the Frampton home on his own because he knows the landscape. “He’s made great strides,” said his mother, Becky.

For Luke, he provides inspiration and incentive to improve. “He never did get a chance to play growing up … and because he didn’t get to I’m going to step up and play for him,” said Luke, a heavily recruited 6-foot-4 junior guard at Poca High (W.Va.).

Nathaniel was in attendance Monday afternoon at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center when Poca defeated Socastee 61-50 to advance to a consolation semifinal meeting with Mullins at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Dots lost to St. Francis (Ga.) on Saturday to end a 31-game winning streak.

At games, both Nathaniel’s mother and Jackie Bailey, his caregiver of 10 years, will give Nathaniel play-by-play, and when Luke does something of significance Nathaniel will respond. Nathaniel is not a big fan of the buzzer that signifies the end of quarters and halves, waiting substitutions and other game events, or excessive crowd noise.

“It’s tough for him to get around here because he doesn’t like all the noise, but when he gets in here I like playing in front of him,” Luke said. “You could hear him and Jackie saying, ‘Let’s go Luke; let’s go Luke.’ It’s pretty awesome.”

Caring for Nathaniel became a little more difficult for the family two years ago, when Becky’s husband and the father of her three sons died from bone cancer.

Becky was married to Bryan Frampton for 23 years. Bone cancer took one of his legs shortly after high school but the disease was in remission for more than 20 years before resurfacing.

Bryan, a Navy veteran, was an ardent follower of his sons’ basketball careers and held the Poca High career steals record with 180 before his middle son, Noah, broke it as a senior last season with 188. The year Bryan died, Luke and Noah would wear the No. 34 their father wore in high school in alternating games.

The family is well-known in the small town of Poca and has received sympathy from all those who know their circumstances. But the Framptons see things differently.

“A lot of people look at our life like we’ve had a lot of heartache, and we definitely have,” Becky said. “We were devastated by the loss of their dad, and with Nathaniel we would have never chosen that path. But we are so thankful like God just has a plan and a purpose in it. Nobody is more thankful and feels more blessed than this girl.”

Nathaniel has cheered at basketball courts for both of his brothers over the past few years. Noah was invited to walk onto the Marshall basketball program as a freshman this season by head coach and former longtime Socastee coach Dan D’Antoni, though he’s out for the season with a torn labrum and will have surgery on Jan. 8.

Luke could join him in two years. He has received offers from Marshall, Texas Tech, James Madison, Winthrop and Longwood, and he has received interest from Virginia and Clemson. He has some time to weigh the offers and wait on others.

“I think he’s inspired,” Poca coach Allen Osborne said. “He keeps his priorities in life in order. He’s a great kid to coach and a great person.”

Nathaniel has influenced his brothers to develop an unusual level of maturity and compassion.

“It’s a blessing in disguise, really,” Noah said. “When people ask about having a brother with special needs, their first reaction is it has to be tough on you. But he’s awesome. It’s a blessing to have him as a brother.

“When you see other people with special needs it makes you just want to help them because you know what it’s like.”

Noah and Luke have accepted that they have to make sacrifices in their lives for the sake of their brother. “It is really a different dynamic to the family with us,” Becky said. “There is an adjustment, and there have been times we haven’t been able to go [somewhere] because of Nathaniel. … We just have a few more sacrifices to make and we’re thankful to do it because we feel like we’re super blessed.”

Becky, who is remarried to John Bailey, the father of Nathaniel’s caregiver, is in the process of opening a behavioral health care center in the Poca area with a friend to serve people of all ages with disabilities. She already keeps some adults with disabilities at her home and works with them.

“My passion is helping people with disabilities have a better quality of life,” Becky said. “And I really do believe both of my boys will be involved in that population of people with their college and their life. They’re phenomenal with people with disabilities, not just Nathaniel. God has given them a great passion and compassion to serve that population of people.”

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Inspired by special needs brother, Poca’s Frampton playing for two."