By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

When talking with Westlake High School senior Thomas Bowman, it’s easy to forget he has spent most of his life overcoming a traumatic brain injury that almost killed him when he was 9 months old.

Thomas could be any high-school senior as he jokes that his favorite part of school was eating lunch off campus and recalls some of his favorite stories from summer camp, but then his pacemaker kicks in and his voice begins to fade. 

Thomas recently received the YMCA Camp Flaming Arrow Strong Award, which recognizes outstanding volunteers for their hard work, generosity of spirit and compassion for others. 

The award came after Thomas donated $500, the first money he earned from working as a bagger at H-E-B, to the YMCA Camp Flaming Arrow to help campers who otherwise could not afford to attend the summer camp. 

Thomas has been attending Camp Flaming Arrow for 10 years. 

He says he kept returning to the camp because he liked the activities, such as archery and horseback riding, as well as the counselors. 

“They were all friendly,” he says. 

Maggie Bowman, Thomas’ mother, says Bill Hinton, the executive director of Camp Flaming Arrow, was key to Thomas’ experience. 

It was Hinton’s inclusiveness that allowed Thomas to participate and even become a Counselor In Training at the camp. 

Hinton says Thomas embodied the camp’s spirit and always had a smile on his face. 

“He’s an amazing young man,” Hinton says. 

When Thomas handed Hinton the envelope with a $500 check inside of it in May 2008, Hinton was busy at the time and initially just put the envelope in his pocket.

“(Thomas) didn’t act like it was a big deal at all,” Hinton says. 

When Hinton opened the envelope later that day and saw the amount of the donation, he was shocked. 

“I almost started crying right there,” he says. 

Thomas says he simply wanted others to have the same the same experience he did. 

“I knew I had a great time there, and I wanted to brighten up other people’s spirits,” he says. 

Maggie stresses that it was the kindness of others that allowed Thomas to express his own generosity. 

She says without the open spirit of the management at H-E-B at The Village at Westlake shopping center, Thomas would not have been able to earn the money he donated. 

Beth Wesson, the center checkout operations manager at the H-E-B, worked closely with Thomas as he was hired. 

“He’s just an awesome employee,” she says. 

Wesson says Thomas has a strong work ethic and is also good with customers. 

When Thomas suffered a seizure while working at H-E-B just before Thanksgiving, H-E-B kept his position open for six months until he could return to work again. 

H-E-B even had a frozen turkey ready for him when he came back. 

Although his injury has confronted him with obstacles such as seizures, memory loss, visual impairments and learning difficulties, Thomas graduated from WHS with his peers in the mainstream classes Friday. 

Maggie says Thomas does not feel he is different, and he always strived to the best he can be. 

“He doesn’t feel that he is in any way atypical,” she says.