If people think that I am never going to walk again, they have another thing coming.  They don't know my can-do spirit or my determination.  If anything, this accident just makes me more determined than ever to succeed.

My name is Jason, but most of my friends (or anyone else) calls me Jase.  I am seventeen years old.  I live with my family in Oak Lawn, Illinois, but right now I am in a rehab hospital.  I was injured in a football-related accident; I broke my back when a big mammoth of a fellow plowed into me.  It was a freak accident.  One minute, I was playing football in front of hundreds of screaming fans; the next, I was lying on the ground, unable to move or feel anything from my waist on down.

It was terrifying.

I have since gotten out of the hospital, but now the real work has begun: therapy, trying to learn how do do things sitting down in a wheelchair, knowing that my chances of ever walking on my own remains an elusive goal. 

Sometimes I have days where I feel sorry for myself (who wouldn't after such a life-changing event?), but more often than not, I'm doing my therapy or working to build up my upper body strength.  One of my goals right now is to walk across the stage in June to get my high school diploma.  (I'm a senior this year.)

My family has been really supportive of me though all this.  They are all absolutely wonderful, and I thank God every day for them.  I also thank God for giving me a second chance at life.  If it were not for His mercy or grace, I would not even be here, and I would not be working so hard to try to learn how to walk again.

I am going to walk again.  Even if it means wearing braces strapped to my legs or balancing myself between a pair of aluminum crutches, I will walk again.  Mark my words.  I am not giving up hope, and I am leaning on the Lord to get me through this.  I have to.  I have no other choice.

~To be continued.~