At just 16 years old, Desoto High School football player Corey Borner is already an inspiration to some twice his age.
"I don't think I've ever been around a young man that's been so positive after what he's been through," said Claude Mathis, Borner's football coach.
Mathis watched Borner mature and excel on the football field as a Desoto High School Eagle. On that same field, a freak accident changed Borner's life forever.
"We threw a bubble route to a young man, and Corey Borner came up and made a great hit and, unfortunately, we had to take some precautions after that, because he wasn't able to get up," Mathis said.
Borner was transported to Parkland Hospital, paralyzed from the neck down.
"You see it happen in other places, and you just don't ever want that to happen to your program," Mathis said.
Last week, Borner underwent surgery to fuse together three vertebrae.
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Now there are signs of hope for his recovery.
"He's a young man (who) I think is going to get a lot better, but it's just going to take months and months down the line," Mathis said.
To Mathis, Borner's positivity and strength is overwhelming.
"The statement he made in the room was he's a real Eagle, and that right there hit me very hard," Mathis said.
Borner's family is in the process of setting up a fund to help offset some of his medical costs.
