HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) - Months after a hard hit on the football field left a South Florida student athlete paralyzed, that teen is finally home from the hospital, just in time for the holidays.
A picture captured Frederick Climpson raising his arm to place an ornament on his family’s Christmas tree.
The teen and his family spoke with 7News about his recovery on Friday.
“The doctor came in and told me that he was going home on the vent, and I looked the doctor in his eyes, and I told him, “I rebuke that,” said Camille Harrison, Frederick’s mother.
Breathing on his own and sitting in his living room are milestones for the 15-year-old Homestead Senior High School student. He has put in the work, which is a competitiveness that comes from within.
“They say, ‘Take it one day at a time,'” Harrison said. “One thing they never told us is that he will never walk again, so they remain optimistic about his situation.”
Climpson suffered a life-changing injury during his first junior varsity Football game back in September.
“He was like, ‘Your son is paralyzed from the neck down,'” Harrison said.
Home life for Climpson has its similarities, as well as differences, since the injury.
“I just be on the game,” Climpson said.
The couch at his home has been replaced with a hospital bed.
Climpson’s mother, who is now his 24/7 caregiver, said that it rarely works the right way.
“To get the bed elevated with my waist, you have to row that, but I don’t use it, ’cause it takes forever,” she said.
A manual ramp was placed at the front door every time Climpson leaves the house.
But despite life’s new challenges, this family remains positive. Faith, family and the love for football are now working together too get through this moment, to see the game of life and football in a new light.
“It doesn’t matter the score. To walk off that field on your feet, it’s the biggest win,” said Harrison.
Climpson’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.