Everyone’s life takes them on twists and turns, but the adversity defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos faced on his way to playing at Penn State was on another level. Gross-Matos survived two life-threatening moments during his childhood, however, in each instance, tragedy struck his family.

ESPN covered his story in a featured video during College GameDay in Happy Valley on Saturday.

As documented in the video, the first tragedy struck just after his second birthday. The defensive end’s parents took him and his brother, Chelal, for a day of boating near the Chesapeake Bay. That day, his father, Michael, drowned in an accident while saving Yetur’s life.

About nine years later, tragedy hit Yetur again during a rain delay in one of his a little league baseball games. Chelal grabbed a ball to play catch in the outfield during the delay, but when Yetur tried to join him, Chelal told him to stay in the car.

Moments later, lightning struck Chelal directly and killed him instantly. Chelal was 12 years old.

It was after that, Yetur fell in love with football. During his interview with ESPN, he called the sport “therapeutic” following his brother’s death. During one Penn State game in his freshman season, football brought Yetur and Chelal back together.

Against Michigan State on Nov. 4, 2017, Yetur recorded his first college sack, and then, the skies opened up. A thunderstorm caused a 3.5-hour rain delay in the Nittany Lions-Spartans matchup, which Yetur took it as a sign from his brother.

“I cried like uncontrollably during that rain delay,” Yetur said. “I felt like he was there. I just felt this power. It makes me think that there must be a purpose to me being here.

“My mom says all the time ‘You have something to do here, and they’re not going to let you go until it’s done.'”

For a more detailed account of Yetur’s story, check out the full featured story video from ESPN below: