Four months ago, 16-year-old Marc-Andre Emond faced the possibility that he might never walk again.
The young hockey player was sent crashing into the boards during a game, after another player pushed him from behind.
The impact cracked two vertebrae in his lower neck, forcing doctors to use bone from his hip to repair the damaged backbone.
He was left paralyzed from the neck down, and confined to a wheelchair.
"I was very discouraged," said his mother, Nancy Emond.
That was until Dec. 26, when Marc-Andre suddenly moved his leg during a physiotherapy session. He then managed to stand up, for the first time since the incident on the ice.
"It was like a miracle," Emond said.
With strength and determination, Marc-Andre has since learned to walk all over again.
"It's motivating for me," he said.
The teen is taking one day at a time, and dreams of playing hockey again some day.
