Local high school senior turns his struggles into strength

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Exchange Club of Columbus recently hosted the 2025-2026 Accepting the Challenge of Excellence Awards Luncheon.

The A.C.E. Award goes to a student who has persevered through hardship.

This year’s winner was Rowe Gillis of New Hope High School, and for him, life hasn’t always been easy.

He was a healthy and active student and athlete – playing baseball and football and enjoying life.

But one day in August of the 9th grade, he woke up in unbearable pain and had health issues no one could really explain. It started as constant nausea and became unrelenting, constant pain.

Rowe had his gallbladder removed, and thought the issue was fixed. But in a short time, he was back in pain, worse than when he started, going months with no answers.

“I ended up getting down to 111 lbs, and I was 6 feet tall at the time,” Gillis said.

Not only was he in physical pain, but he was hurting mentally.

“Honestly, the symptoms I was dealing with, I wouldn’t say were the hardest,” Gillis said. “It was really the mental struggles. A lot of times, I was pretty much bed-bound. So, I was lying in my room, a dark room. That was the hardest because it does something to you.”

Rowe was diagnosed with Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome, or MALS, a rare condition where a ligament was compressing a major artery in his abdomen, cutting off blood flow to his organs.

“I was so happy to finally get an answer,” Gillis said.

Along with MALS, he was also diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, affecting the nervous system.

Having an answer didn’t equal having a solution, but Rowe said they got a game plan together.

In May, Rowe traveled to Washington, D.C. for a life-saving surgery and began to feel like a new person as recovery went on.

Rowe says he had a huge support system through all of this with his faith, family, really close friends who went out of their way to help him, his former school, Columbus Christian Academy, and his current school, New Hope High School.

“There were so many people, but number one was the Lord,” Gillis said. “Without the Lord, none of this could have been possible. There were so many people praying for me. I know that’s the reason I got better.”

After all his pain, Rowe says his experience has taught him to stay positive and live life intentionally, help others going through rough times, and find a community of people to help get through hard times.

“Seeing that maybe this can benefit someone else, someone else going through the same thing, like a lady at church, she had been dealing with symptoms for many years. She learned what I had, went to my doctor, and figured out she had MALS. She got the ligament release. She is living life now,” Gillis said. “It’s amazing that my struggles, my hard times, benefited somebody else. Since the operation, I have a whole new outlook on life. I don’t take anything for granted. I wake up every day thanking the Lord that I’m here, I’m alive, and I get to do things I want to do.”

Rowe has a message to those who may be struggling.

“There is always hope,” Gillis said. “Seeking things of this world and trying to find answers by yourself in a worldly point of view, trying to do everything on your own, it’s impossible. The only way to endure and persevere through hard struggles – rely on the Lord. The Lord will get you through it. Maybe times will still be hard, it’s not going to be easy, but the Lord will get you through it.”

Rowe has currently completed 21 college credits. After graduation, he plans to attend Mississippi State University and study business.