Twenty years ago today, Tyson Gentry’s life changed forever.

It was the afternoon of April 14, 2006, and Gentry was practicing inside Ohio Stadium as a walk-on punter and wide receiver for the Ohio State football team. He was living out his dream as an Ohio State player and following in the footsteps of his father, Bob, who was a safety for the Buckeyes in the early 1970s.

The team was holding an intrasquad scrimmage inside the Horseshoe, and during the practice, Gentry was tackled by a teammate. He sustained a broken C-4 vertebra and a bruised spine. In the months that followed, Gentry underwent two surgeries at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and he also went through inpatient physical and occupational therapy at OSU’s Dodd Hall.

Gentry has been a quadriplegic for the two decades since that fateful day. He is unable to move his body, except for his head, shoulders and upper arms.

He credits his parents, Bob and Gloria, and his two older sisters, Natalie and Ashley, for standing by him and supporting him immediately after the injury and for the last 20 years.

Undeterred by being confined by a wheelchair, Gentry stayed around the Ohio State football team – then coached by Jim Tressel – for the 2006, ’07 and ’08 seasons.

In 2009, Gentry was closing in on completing his degree requirements at Ohio State when his life took another turn. He met a classmate, Megan Vanderhorst Gentry, and the two of them struck up a friendship, eventually started dating and finally became husband and wife. Megan has been Tyson’s full-time caregiver ever since.

Currently, they live in Alpharetta, Ga., where they are raising their two sons, 10-year-old Adam and 8-year-old Ryan.

It was a few years later, in 2014, when the Gentrys created a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the New Perspective Foundation. Thinking back to his own hospitalization, Gentry recalled how his parents had to spend thousands of dollars on gas and lodging to travel from their home in Sandusky, Ohio, down to Columbus to be with him.

He and Megan were determined to raise money to support families in similar situations. The foundation works with health care professionals to identify families who could use up to $5,000 to offset the cost of gas, airfare, rental cars, local transportation, parking and lodging.

Gentry estimated that since 2014, the New Perspective Foundation has provided over $700,000 to 350 families.

Gentry keeps busy as an inspirational speaker. He said he has made over 100 speeches to civic organizations, schools, churches, athletic teams and other groups over the last 20 years. He is also in the process of wrapping up his third book.

This book, titled “Once a Buckeye …”, will be an autobiography as Gentry, who turned 40 last July, shares much of his life story and the lessons he has gained along the way. He is hoping the book will be completed and available for purchase in May.

We were able to catch up with Gentry on Monday for an interview where we discussed what his life has been like for the last 20 years as well as the support he has had from his family as well as Ohio State fans and alumni. He also discussed the work of the New Perspective Foundation.

Below, we have excerpts from that interview.