In September 2021, we ran a story about a University of Texas Masters swimmer, Philip Yeager, who was dealt a life-changing blow early on in the pandemic when he fell 25 feet during a solo hiking expedition.
Yeager, 24, was hiking along the Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin, Texas in April 2020 when the incident occurred, landing flat on his back and fracturing multiple vertebrae. He spent a week in intensive care and the following four months in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities.
“My back may have hit a rock on the way down or perhaps I landed on a rock that fractured multiple vertebrae,” Yeager had said back in September.
When that story was published just under five months ago, Yeager was swimming four or five days a week, and in August, pulled himself up and walked with braces and a walker for the first time.
On January 30, 2022, Yeager walked on his own for the first time with braces. He walked from his car to the University of Texas pool, to the locker room and then on deck for practice—something he usually does with a wheelchair. He did so despite having no sensation or control of his legs below his knees.
Watch the video below:
What a heart warming story of determination and resilience!
(Not going to lie I was hoping for a massive outpouring of celebration from people at the pool.)
He inspires all of us as TXLA to be better and stronger and complain less. Keep striving upward and onward Philip-we are cheering you on.
WooHoo. Way to go Philip!