TOLEDO, Ohio — Today, Jackson Lamb can be found at a Toledo fire station. But at one point, you would've thought he would be on the baseball diamond full-time.
"At 18 years old basically making baseball my life, there had to be some type of backup plan," Lamb said. "(University of Michigan) offered me a full scholarship. I had no other option than to take it."
He committed to Michigan for baseball but anticipated getting drafted out of high school if things went his way.
When they didn't, he headed straight to Ann Arbor.
"It just seemed like a perfect plan of, 'if I get drafted, cool.' Michigan is always in my back pocket," Lamb said. "And that happened to be plan A after the draft."
But injuries early on, including a fractured back and UCL tear, altered his athletic journey.
"I went to Michigan with the intention of 'I could be the first overall pick.' I'm going to come here, be a first overall pick and then you almost feel like you took steps backwards in those three years after instead of being where you thought you were going to be," Lamb said. "I just honestly didn't have the heart to play anymore."
"You put all this time and effort into something and things happened that you didn't really prepare for or control so it kind of gets snatched from you a little bit," he added. "I wasn't bitter, I just kind of knew my time was done."
Lamb was born with a cleft lip and palate, so he is no stranger to setbacks. And just like when he was younger, he used his experiences as inspiration.
"During my time at Michigan, I grew an interest in speech pathology. I worked with a speech pathologist growing up with all my cleft stuff," he recalled.
He took a job in speech pathology at Toledo Hospital, where he unknowingly would find his calling.
"I was working in the neuro-ICU so a lot of stroke victims, (traumatic brain injuries), car accidents," he said. "After they got them all stable and talking to them, they'd always say they remember firefighters pulling them out, firefighters helping them.
Lamb was called to another field, but this time it was one similar to what he was raised in.
"My dad's a Toledo police officer so that was always instilled in us community service," he said "It just seemed like a great path for me."
Not only did the path play out that way, but Lamb has also been able to find similarities that make him feel what he felt on the baseball diamond.
"The one thing I did miss from playing is the team aspect and I think firefighting and that brotherhood, that sisterhood is just a huge parallel to that," he said
Even so, the former two-sport star still aims to be better as most natural athletes do.
"I don't know if you ever feel 100% satisfied, just because you always know there's going to be a next call, but we always want to be ready. I think that I feel the most confident in my job when I feel the most prepared," Lamb said.
Lamb has also taken on the role of assistant baseball coach at his alma mater, Bedford High School.
"I just hope to keep improving on my skills as a firefighter, as a coach. There's always stuff you can improve on and I don't want to be complacent," he said. "I'm a huge advocate for things that happen make you who you are. I'm beyond happy with where I am in my life and that never would've happened if those bad things didn't happen, too."