Paralyzed Florida teen walks across graduation stage
Less than two years ago, Sean Mahoney was paralyzed after he and his friends crashed a boat into a bridge in Fort Lauderdale. Out of the accident, one teenager was tragically killed and five others had been seriously injured – including Mahoney, who became paralyzed. However, a recent video surfaced of him walking across the stage at his graduation last weekend.
At the scene of the accident, Mahoney broke his neck and his C5 vertebrae, leaving himself paralyzed essentially from the shoulders down. Since then, he has been working tirelessly to gain movement back at Neuro Fit 360. His physical therapist reported to Local 10 News that Mahoney set walking across the stage at his graduation as one of his first, larger goals throughout his recovery.
Mahoney graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In the viral video, he stood up from his wheelchair and, with some assistance, walked across the stage, one step after the other. The crowd erupted into applause, cheering him on as he physically walked across his graduation stage to receive his diploma.
Regarding the boating accident, WPLG Local 10 News reports that per the Broward State Attorney’s Office, the investigation on the boat crash is still ongoing.
While a long road to recovery remains for Mahoney, it is incredibly meaningful for him to be able to literally mean it when he says that he walked across the stage at his own high school graduation.
This has been one of several incidences where paralyzed teens have physically walked across their graduation stages. In 2015, NBC Nightly News reported that Christopher Norton (paralyzed from a sports injury) walked across the stage to accept his college diploma with a little bit of help from his fiancé. In 2016, People Magazine reported yet another paralyzed teen walking at her graduation after a cheerleading accident.
This goes to say that regardless of whether it is a graduation ceremony for a high school diploma or a college diploma, there is still a great deal of significance embedded into the ceremony. While the moment that Mahoney crossed the stage may have lasted thirty seconds to a minute at most, it truly represented the dedication that he put into not only his academic life, but his personal wellbeing as well. Those several seconds expressed how much hard work he put into the past two years and was only a preview of what kind of tremendous recovery he is likely to make in future years.
WPLG Local 10 News reports that Mahoney strives to ultimately fully recover from the boating accident in every aspect possible and that he will be attending the University of Florida in the fall.