Thomas Wilson laughing on the pro pickleball court.
Thomas Wilson is one of the most well-liked players in professional pickleball. PPA Tour

Thomas Wilson opens up about marriage, faith, journey to adoption 

Thomas Wilson was dubbed a “pickleball miracle” after appearing on the Pickleballers podcast to provide updates on his health, family, and hopes for a return to the court.

He even shared the story of how he and his wife, Brittany, met, and how their shared faith has played an integral part in their rather complicated life journey together.


“I met Brittany when I was at a homeschooling academy in high school. We’re two years and 11 months apart in age, and I thought maybe I’ll date her one day,” said Wilson. “I went to college at Purdue. Then after my first year, Brittany and I reconnected on Facebook and started commenting on each other’s pictures. We started texting, and I invited her to come watch me play a college tennis tournament that summer and we started dating. We dated for four years and then we got married.”

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After that, Wilson and his new bride decided to attend Bible college together. 

“We lived in Colorado Springs for three years and we worked at a phone center to pray for people,” he shared. “We were the Prayer Warriors and it’s a global ministry. People would call in from all over the world and ask for prayer.”

The Wilsons would wake up at 2:45 a.m., begin work at 3:30 a.m., work for a few hours, go to school for four hours, head back home, and resume their prayer phone center work again before going to bed at 7:00 pm. 

After graduating, the Wilsons moved back to Texas where Thomas entered the corporate world.

The Wilsons were eager to start a family, but things didn’t fall into place right away. 


“We’ve always wanted to have a big family, and after a year of marriage we started trying to have kids. I ended up having three surgeries over eight years and it ended up being a 10-year process. It was tough,” explained Wilson.

But after years of wrestling with infertility, surgeries, and diagnoses, their prayers for children were finally answered when they adopted their first baby girl, Holyn, in 2023.   

“When we got Holyn, every morning I would try and let my wife sleep because she did the night shift. I’d get up early at 6:00 a.m., but I would look at Holyn and just cry, which is a little absurd. But just the amount of gratitude, the situation she came from, and how everything worked out, despite some hardships, we believe that was the Lord’s plan all along,” mentioned Wilson. 

A year and a half later, the Wilsons adopted their second baby girl, Haven, who’s Holyn’s biological sibling.

It was a blessing the Wilsons never could have dreamed of. 

“I would go through the misery of surgeries and the grief a thousand times over again to have what we have now,” emphasized Wilson. 

Though Wilson isn’t back playing pro pickleball yet, the road to recovery is looking much more promising, especially with his growing family by his side.

Click here to donate to Thomas Wilson’s medical journey.