A teen partially paralyzed during a hockey game 9 months ago, was given a roaring welcome as he made his way to the stage to get his high school diploma on Friday.
A freak injury during a hockey game left Jake Thibeault paralyzed from the waist down, but the defiant teen fulfilled his dream of walking up to receive his diploma from Milton Academy in Massachusetts. Praise the Lord!
It became headlines when the teen was partially paralyzed with two broken vertebrae due to an injury from a game, but when students, staff, and parents witnessed him walking with the help of a walker and leg braces to get his high school diploma, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
18-year-old Thibeault has been in therapy for like forever to achieve this feat, but the prayers of his parents were backing him up. It was sheer hard work that culminated in him wheeling his chair toward the stage and standing up with leg braces and then using a walker to walk 30 steps towards the stage. This moment led many to tears in the audience.
A promise made and kept as @MiltonAcad_puck player Jake Thibeault walks to accept his diploma today in front of classmates and teammates just nine months after a devastating on ice injury. pic.twitter.com/jmSr4GGiSS
— Bulldog Hockey U18 (@crobahh_1) June 10, 2022
One among those who were cheering the loudest for Thibeault was his dad, Mike Thiebault. “Just an overwhelming feeling of being proud for Jake,” Mike Thiebault said. “Nevermore honored to be his father.” His son was one of the best high school hockey players in all of New England before he was injured.
The devout Christian father knew early on last September when his son had just been injured in the hockey game, that he would get over it. “He’s a special kid. Nobody deserves what he’s going through,” he said at the time. “But maybe God chose him because he’s going to do it. He’s a kid that can handle it.”
The faith of Jake Thibeault’s parents and his hard work and commitment to walk again made the graduation ceremony a very special one for all those present there. “I told my parents I have an order. I’m gonna walk, then run, then skate, and I may skip run and try to skate first,” he said.
The young teen added, “But it truly goes back to just the no-quit, and I’m refusing to lose. And that stuck with me to this day, and it will stick with me until I’m on my feet.” Let’s lift up Jake and his family in our prayers before God and ask Him for complete healing and protection as he heads to Babson College in the fall.
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