Teen stands for first time since suffering spinal cord injury
You can’t help but be stoked for JJ Hodge, a 17-year-old who stood for the first time in nine months on June 29, after suffering a spinal cord injury in a hood-surfing accident.
Hodge spent time in three different facilities and the staff at NextStep Raleigh helped the teenager reach a priceless milestone.
“Oh s—t, dude, I’m tall!” JJ Hodge exclaimed with a wide smile, as he rose to his feet with the help of staff.
JJ’s mother, Beth Hodge, captured the footage and has been providing updates on her son’s status in a Facebook group that has 1,200 members.
“They are concentrating on his core now, trying to strengthen it to allow him to do things like transfer himself to/from his chair and use a manual chair instead of only the big power chair. It’s a long and arduous process, but JJ says he is up for the challenge,” Beth Hodge wrote.
JJ Hodge suffered the injury after falling off the roof of a car in September while hood-surfing, where he was promptly run over.
“I do remember the injury. I remember when it happened,” Hodge said to WFMY 2 News. “I remember bits and pieces mainly. Like, I just remember falling off the car and getting run over and I remember my friend Cole helping me out from under the car.”
The video of JJ’s recovery is certainly worth watching, if only to see the joy on his face throughout all of it.
Best of luck, JJ, and here’s to further success in your journey.
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