Trey Banks walks gingerly as he gets up to go to his car. A bandage hiding a fresh surgical scar peaks out above the waistabnd of his shorts. It’s hard for Banks to hide the physical signs of what he’s been through the last three years, nor how he feels now.

“I feel great,” said Banks, 24, an assistant soccer coach at Warren Central. “This is the best I’ve ever felt, ever. For three years I was sick and now I’m not sick.”

Banks, a WC graduate, was a student at Ole Miss when he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2005. The disease, which affects as many as one million Americans, causes ulcers and inflammation in the lining of the large intestine and rectum. Ulcers form where the swelling has killed cells in the intestine, and can also cause severe cramps, weight loss, diarrhea, bleeding and pus. The disease is not fatal, but if left unchecked it can lead to complications that require major surgery.

That was the case for Banks.

For months, he had felt rundown and lethargic. He played soccer in high school at Warren Central