WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A Polk State College student is doing something doctors said he would never be able to do. Chase Roberts beat the odds and is now helping others do the same.
“It was pretty scary. It was one of those things, it’s a moment you will always remember,” said Roberts.
Six years ago, Chase Robert’s life changed in an instant. “I remember looking back at my mother and I felt so sorry for her because any plan she had was going to be put hold on because she was going to have to care of me,” said Roberts.
A terrible car accident left Roberts paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors told him he would never walk again after suffering a spinal cord injury.
“They told me you’re not ever going to have any mobility below your jaw again. So go head home, widen your hallways. You’re going to be able to have to maneuver large wheelchairs,” Roberts said.
There was a sign of hope when Roberts began to wiggle his toe. Healthcare workers guided him through seven weeks of intense occupational and physical therapy, followed by outpatient treatment.
“The day I took my first steps was a really overwhelmingly emotional moment. It was on my sister’s birthday, which she’ll never forgive for taking the attention away from her,” Roberts said.
His therapists never gave up on him.
“I had boasted to my therapist that I'm going to come back and work here one day,” he said.
True to his word, Roberts is finishing his clinicals at Orlando Health, the very place he recovered from paralysis. He will graduate with an Associate in Science in Occupational Therapy Assistant in December and soon become a licensed occupational therapy assistant.
“They can put on a smile and greet you while you're going through this terrible experience, and I wanted to be able to do that. I wanted to look at somebody that was going through something so difficult and be a shining light in that moment for them,” Roberts said.
