Do you believe in miracles? If you're saying no right now, I hope this changes your mind. One year ago from today, my life changed forever. For those of you who do not know me, I will explain. I broke my back at college last year while sledding, and ended up with a spinal cord injury. I was paralyzed from the waist down and rushed into emergency surgery to fix my T-12 vertebrae and take a tiny piece of bone out of my spinal cord. The doctors told me I would never walk again. But, I am very happy to tell you that I am walking! Completely unassisted, as a matter of fact. I was determined to get on my feet, and I did just that in the first 5 weeks! It has been a crazy year to say the least, but I have grown so much physically and spiritually. While I am still not 100% healed, just the fact that I am walking is a miracle! I have defied odds. It's still really weird to think that all of that happened one year ago. In the midst of everything, I chose to have a positive attitude and make the most of my time at Shepherd, the world-renown spinal center in Atlanta where I lived for a month and did therapy. I met some incredible friends and I made lots of wonderful memories that I will cherish forever. One of those memories is getting to meet some of the Atlanta Braves players. As you can see in the picture above, I was able to talk to them, show them how I was learning to walk, and I even got a Braves hat and they all signed it! Shepherd made such an effort to make our lives as fun and exciting as they could.I can tell you first-hand how depressing it can be when you are told you won't ever walk again. I was beyond fortunate to get a second chance, but almost everyone else doesn't. I am so grateful for the opportunities I got while I was in a rough place and needed them most. God has enriched my life with so much hope and promise since my accident. I see the world completely different now, and life is so much more beautiful to me. That well known saying, "You never know what you have until it's gone", is 294823983% true. I took for granted the fact that I could walk to class and run up and down the field playing ultimate frisbee. Now I know just how fortunate I am, and I won't ever take those things for granted again. So, do you believe in miracles now? God definitely made me a stronger believer of them through all of this, and I hope you are now too!
