{"id":22039,"date":"2026-03-11T12:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:17:41","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-19T22:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:09:08","slug":"inspired-to-walk-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/managing-life-changes\/inspired-to-walk-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspired to Walk Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

My dad is old school. When he wants to send me something important, he still uses the postal service. One day earlier this year, I opened an envelope to find a note neatly typed on his law-firm letterhead.<\/p>\n

Enclosed find a recent <\/em>Star Ledger article with regard to Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand that I thought may be of interest to you and <\/em>Guideposts. Love, Dad.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t surprised he\u2019d sent a story about football. We both love the game and Dad\u2019s the one who convinced me to try out for my high school team. I\u2019ve written in Guideposts<\/em> before about how proud he was of my accomplishments on the field.<\/p>\n

At the top of the article was a photograph of Eric\u2014a big, dreadlocked 21-year-old, strapped into some kind of workout apparatus, his left arm in a sling, hung by taut cords attached to a pulley above.<\/p>\n

He looked determined; his eyes fixed intently on his arm, as if the power of his mind, not his muscles, would get it to move. That\u2019s when I remembered: The Rutgers vs. Army football game at the New Meadowlands Stadium, October 16, 2010.<\/p>\n

Rutgers had just tied it, 17-17, late in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the teams streaked toward one another. Eric went in for the tackle, smashing helmet first into the returner\u2019s shoulder. Both players sprawled out on the turf near the 25-yard line.<\/p>\n

The Army player rose, slowly. Eric didn\u2019t. It seemed like the entire crowd held its breath, thinking, Get up. Jog back to the sideline. <\/em>Trainers huddled around the motionless player, and the commentators spoke in hushed tones.<\/p>\n

The collision had fractured Eric\u2019s C3 and C4 vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down. Doctors estimated that Eric had less than a five-percent chance of regaining any motor function\u2014much less be able to walk again.<\/p>\n

I edit Mysterious Ways <\/em>and am constantly on the lookout for miracle stories. But what miracle could there be for Eric? Two years after his injury, he\u2019s bound to a wheelchair and depends on his mother and a nurse for his basic needs.<\/p>\n

It can take up to two hours to get him out of bed, showered, dressed and into his wheelchair to start the morning. When his nose itches, he can\u2019t even scratch it himself.<\/p>\n

And yet, the article Dad sent told a different story. Here was Eric, looking indomitable in one photo, joyful in the next.<\/p>\n

Pushing through experimental rehabilitation therapy. Commentating on a Rutgers game from the press booth. Talking to kids at schools across the country. Sending daily messages to more than 120,000 followers on Twitter.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d even been signed to a brief, but real NFL contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by Coach Greg Schiano, who\u2019d coached him at Rutgers. \u201cThe way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking for in Buccaneer Men,\u201d Schiano said.<\/p>\n

Dad was right, I was inspired. But I still wondered, how could Eric keep hoping for that impossible miracle: to walk again?<\/p>\n

I reached out to Eric, but my call went straight to his voicemail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Eric LeGrand. I want to leave you with a quick message before you go. Never take anything for granted. Each day is a gift. It is a prize of its own. You have to go out there and receive it and enjoy it to the best of your abilities. That\u2019s what I do every day of my life. And always remember: Believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric called back a moment later. It was just before his Wednesday rehab session. It\u2019s a serious workout. He straps into specially designed harnesses and electrodes that send the electrical impulses to his muscles his nervous system can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

He spends half an hour on a treadmill, then half an hour on a mat, working to balance himself and sit up. He wraps up with an hour on an arm bike, retraining his upper body to move. I asked him about his voicemail message, the word \u201cbelieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that everything happens for a reason,\u201d Eric said. \u201cThat God is working a miracle through me. Because of all those times I was praying when I was on my deathbed. And the answers God gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his first months at the hospital, a ventilator and a feeding tube kept him alive. Doctors said he\u2019d never breathe again on his own. The noise of the machines kept Eric up, and he lay there at night wondering if he\u2019d survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose months, I just prayed Psalm 23 with my aunt all the time,\u201d Eric said. He found comfort in the messages he got from teammates, friends, fans, even perfect strangers. \u201cI became determined to get off the ventilator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Finally, Eric convinced his doctors to let him try to breathe without it. \u201cThey told me I wouldn\u2019t last more than a few minutes,\u201d Eric said. \u201cFirst time I came off I lasted an hour and a half. I knew right then there\u2019s a plan for this whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The miracles Eric experienced next were like that\u2014not parting-of-the-Red-Sea-huge, but no less significant. At first, doctors found no muscle response in Eric\u2019s lower body. But in rehab, a needle-prick test caused Eric\u2019s muscles to contract, showing the paralysis was not total.<\/p>\n

He once couldn\u2019t sit without toppling over, but he slowly built upper body strength and can now sit up for as long as 15 minutes. He can shrug his shoulders, twitch his biceps and triceps, and even move one of his fingers the tiniest bit.<\/p>\n

In May, an electromyogram test showed, for the first time, that some nerves in his spine were sending signals below the level of his injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see the progress,\u201d Eric told me. \u201cSo how can I not believe miracles can happen?\u201d<\/p>\n

Delivering that message is what Eric believes God wants him to do. He wasn\u2019t sure he could. But a visit to a middle school in Jersey City changed his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how middle school kids are; all laughing and jumping around,\u201d Eric said. \u201cBut you could hear a pin drop when I spoke. I could tell I was making an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterward, a boy walked up to Eric. \u201cI\u2019m blind,\u201d the boy said. \u201cWhat advice do you have for somebody with a disability like me?\u201d<\/p>\n

A tough question. Recovery from paralysis is rare, but recovering sight, even rarer. How could Eric tell him to just \u201cbelieve\u201d?<\/p>\n

Eric answered from the heart. \u201cYou still need to strive,\u201d he said. \u201cYou still have a voice, you can still hear, you can still feel. You may not be able to see the world, but you can still affect it in many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Eric has done. He hasn\u2019t stopped pursuing his goals. He\u2019s on track to earn his degree at Rutgers in labor studies in 2013. He always imagined a career in broadcasting after football, and now he hosts a daily radio program and works the pre-game show at Rutgers games.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been contacted about opportunities with ESPN, Fox Sports, ABC and others. He is motivated by faith. That was the answer to my question, the reason my dad sent me the article through the mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re right in the middle of it, it\u2019s hard to see things are going to work out,\u201d Eric said. \u201cBut when I get to that light at the end of the tunnel, it\u2019ll all be worth it to look back and say I never gave up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sees his ultimate goal so clearly. He\u2019s back at the Meadowlands, on a beautiful, warm day. In the stands, chanting his name, are his mother, Coach Schiano, friends, relatives, teammates, doctors, nurses, rehab therapists, all the people who supported him.<\/p>\n

Eric emerges from the tunnel, standing tall. One foot in front of the other, he walks onto the field. The crowd roars.<\/p>\n

Then he reaches that spot near the 25-yard line, the spot where it happened. He suddenly stops\u2014and lies down on the grassy turf. Motionless. The crowd quiets, like they did on that October day.<\/p>\n

Eric lies there and stares up at the blue sky. A sky he wasn\u2019t sure he\u2019d see again, when he was stuck in that hospital bed, the ventilator breathing for him. He thinks about the inches, the seconds, the twitches that he celebrated throughout his long rehabilitation. Tiny pieces that added up to a big miracle.<\/p>\n

He takes a deep, sweet breath, remembering the power that kept him from giving up\u2014a power greater than fear, than doubt, than the limits of the human body or even the breakthroughs of modern medicine. Then Eric smiles, stands up and jogs to the sideline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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