By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
SAVANNAH - It was a homecoming fit for a hero.
Charlie Phillips, a four-time medalist at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin this past week, landed in Kansas City Tuesday afternoon and came home to Savannah, where hundreds of people were waiting in downtown to see him and congratulate him.
The Savannah Fire Department drove Phillips around the downtown square several times Tuesday evening, with people waving, cheering, snapping pictures and throwing confetti.
Phillips proudly waved back and also waved the American flag, riding in the bucket of a ladder truck.
He later signed autographs and took photos with anyone who asked.
"The whole town came out," he grinned, medals clanking on his chest. "It was so amazing. It was wonderful, seeing everyone I know come out. I got my picture and signed it for them, signed their shirts. It was pretty cool."
Phillips' mother, Tina Schoonmaker, was equally touched by the turnout on Tuesday.
"This is...larger than life," she said gratefully. "Then again, Charlie larger than life. This is Savannah, too. This community is so supportive and loving and accepting of Charlie. I wouldn't expect anything less from them."
Phillips, a 26-year-old power lifter, won three silver medals and a bronze medal on Friday at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.
He earned silver in men’s squat, men's bench press and men's all around competition, while also winning bronze in men's deadlift.
Phillips spent about two weeks in Berlin, preparing for competition. He did two live interviews on ESPN while, including one last Monday with football legend Tim Tebow.
"We even got interviewed by a couple of other countries," Schoonmaker said. "It just blew us away and it brought a lot of coverage to the powerlifting event."
Phillips' interviews went viral, both locally and nationally. In those conversations, Phillips shared touching messages of perseverance, hard work, excitement, passion, dedication and achieving your dreams.
Phillips' story is now internationally known.
"I touched many peoples' lives while I was on ESPN," he said. "I got interviewed after I got done dead lifting. That felt amazing. My emotions were high and...it felt amazing."
Phillips has been a Special Olympian for over 15 years and has been lifting since he was 10. He had said for many of those years that getting to a World Games was his dream.
That dream was realized, and he has four Olympic medals to show for it.
"Special Olympics is one big family," he said. "It doesn't matter who you are, what you're doing. We all come together as one big family. It doesn't matter if it's Savannah, St. Joe...Las Vegas. Wherever you're from. We're all just one big family.
"It was such a pleasure to see his dream finally come true," Schoonmaker said. "The icing on the cake to see him lift and be on that podium. It just did our hearts good."
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