HUMBLE, Texas – A standing ovation for a Humble ISD student, who despite being disabled, walked the stage during graduation.
“To be honest. I still don’t believe the video,” Nicholas Tijerina said.
The Atascocita High School graduate was determined to surprise his classmates, who at that point had never seen him walk.
“I was like you know what, I’m going to make that possible,” Tijerina said.
Six years ago, Nicholas was at basketball tryouts being held outdoors. He says at one point he reached for his back and suddenly dropped to the ground.
While being attended to by coaches, another student had the same thing happen to him. This time, his back was covered in blood.
“I didn’t know what happened, they don’t know what happened,” Tijerina said.
He would later learn that at the same time as tryouts, someone hundreds of yards away was shooting target practice. Their missed shots lodged bullets into the backs of the two kids, paralyzing Tijerina from the waist down.
Years later knowing how capable he’s been in the past six years, Tijerina had one more surprise. He says teachers caught wind of his ambitious goal and began encouraging him in the hallways.
The nerves began to set in on stage, as he admits there was very little preparation beforehand. With the help of friends, Tijerina took small steps but says he practically blacked out. His only moment of relief, when he stopped and shook the hand of the superintendent.
Doctors gave him a one percent chance of being able to walk again.
Nicholas will attend University of Houston in the fall and study engineering. His hope is to ditch the walker and who knows, maybe build something that makes this possible for all.