In the summer of 2021, Daouda Peeters felt like he was operating near the pinnacle of soccer.

A holding midfielder by trade, he was on the books of Italian powerhouse Juventus , and had previously trained alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo . That season, his teammates included club legend Giorgio Chiellini, eventual FIFA World Cup winner Paulo Dybala and American newcomer Weston McKennie .

Four months later, Peeters was looking at the possible end of his career, paralyzed from the waist down due to a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Peeters has since returned to the field, but the road back has been long and ongoing. He now plays in the USL Championship with the Las Vegas Lights , and he makes a point of letting his less experienced

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