Former Shocker baseball star Carl Hall, ‘Extreme Makeover’ home recipient, dies at 53

Carl Hall, the Wichita State University baseball Hall of Famer who was paralyzed in a 2010 car accident, has died. He was 53.

Hall died Sunday afternoon at Ascension Via Christi St. Teresa Hospital in Wichita after suffering “multiple infections that rapidly lead to organ failure,” his daughter, Megan Hall Cornelious, said. The exact cause wasn’t immediately clear, although he had not been ill, she said.

“He fought until the very end and then passed very peacefully. He waited until we were all able to be with him before he took his last breath and that’s just the kind of person he was. … Always looking out for his family,” Cornelious said.

“He was the most charismatic, fearless, goofy and loving human that this world has ever known.”

The Haysville native was a three-sport star athlete at Campus High School, earning a baseball scholarship at Wichita State during the height of the program’s success in the early 1990s.

He enjoyed a standout, four-year career with the Shockers from 1991-94 and played in three straight College World Series, including runner-up finishes in the national championship game in 1991 and 1993.

Hall set the tone with his speed and bat at the top of coach Gene Stephenson’s batting order. His best season came during his senior year in 1994 when he had a .354 batting average, seven triples and 42 stolen bases to earn Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and All-America honors. He was also given the team’s “Charlie Hustle” award four times in his career.

For his career, Hall finished with a .328 average, 303 hits, 249 runs, 58 doubles, 127 RBIs, 127 walks and 110 stolen bases. He was later named to the MVC All-Centennial team and the WSU 25-year anniversary team in 2007, while also being inducted into the Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

“Carl was a great friend, a great example of courage and a great example of how to lead a family,” former WSU baseball player Casey Walkup wrote on Facebook. “You will be missed Carl, I love you brother!”

Hall was critically injured in a June 2010 car crash when his family was driving to a youth sports tournament in Norwich. He underwent neck and spinal cord surgery, but was left paralyzed from the neck down.

“He handled it head on with grace and determination. He was optimistic and happy to just be alive,” Cornelious said.

In the months following the crash, the Haysville and WSU communities rallied around the Hall family, holding fundraisers and other events for support. In February 2011, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and its host, Ty Pennington, arrived in Wichita to announce that the Hall family would receive a new three-story, wheelchair-accessible house near K-42 and Maize Road in Wichita.

The show, construction crews and an army of volunteers worked tirelessly for a week straight to build it and surprised the family when they returned from a Florida vacation. After the crash, the family had been living in a rented condo because their original home wasn’t outfitted for a wheelchair. The new home was equipped with amenities that included an elevator.

As news of Hall’s death spread across social media on Monday, dozens of tributes remembering his dedication to his family, strength through adversity and love of baseball poured in.

“He faced life with laughter, love and grit. After he was paralyzed 13 years ago we all really got to see why he was a champion, why he was a Hall of Famer!” one person wrote on Facebook.

“I can’t thank him enough for all the life lessons, advice, and skills I use everyday in life,” another said.

Cornelious remembered her father as a “gentle soul,” jokester and an “optimist to the maximum degree” who was a confidant and inspiration to many over the years.

“We appreciate the way the community has always supported our family over the years. We were blessed to have him as long as we did and loved being able to share him with everyone.”

Hall is survived by his wife, Stacey Hall; the couple’s children Megan Cornelious, Madison Hall, Logan Hall and Mclaine Hall; a granddaughter, Aurora; his father, John “Jack” Hall; many siblings and other relatives and loved ones.

A visitation with Hall’s family is set for 4-7 p.m. Thursday at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 11000 W. Southwest Blvd. in Schulte, followed by a rosary at 7 p.m. A funeral mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the church. Hall will be buried in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery in Schulte.

Memorial donations may be sent to:

• The Carl Hall Family Benefit Fund, c/o Intrust Bank, 105 N. Main, Wichita KS 67202

• Independent Living Resource Center, 3033 W. Second St., Wichita KS 67203

Donors who want to contribute to the WSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics should make checks payable the WSU Foundation, 1845 N. Fairmount, campus box 2, Wichita KS 67260-0002. Write “Carl Hall memorial” in the check memo line.