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= Jordan Walker = Jordan Walker (February 5, 1997 - Present) is a recovering athlete who tragically suffered quadriplegia in a horrible accident during his last high school football game on November 22, 2013. He was 16 years old at the time of the incident and played linebacker for Santiago High School located in Corona, California.

Early Life
Jordan was born to Curtis Walker and Ali Walker on the Wednesday of February 5, 1997 in Orange, California. His siblings include his sister Hunter Walker and his brother Shayne Walker. Hunter is two years older than Jordan while Shayne is three years older. As a child he loved outdoor events and was very active. He started riding motorcycles at around the age of 5 due to it being a prevalent family hobby of the Walker's and he also enjoyed snowboarding as well. Walker began playing the sport of tackle football at 9 years old with the local team, the Corona Chargers. From that point on he fell in love with the game and continued to play it through his childhood and teenage years.

The Injury
During the 2013 season Jordan Walker was a junior at Santiago High School and was starting middle linebacker for the football team. The Santiago team ended the season with a record of six wins and five losses (6-5) and proceeded to the CIF Southern Section Football Playoffs. They defeated Eisenhower High School with the score of 35-14 on November 15, 2013. The following week would be the quarter finals of the CIF playoff bracket and Santiago would face Upland High School on November 22, 2013. This game would be the last of the season for the Santiago Sharks and the night in which Walker sustained his injury. It was a play like any other, but something very unlikely happened. In a freak accident, the ball carrier for Upland leaped upwards and a pursuing Jordan Walker went in for the tackle. It seemed as if the play ended normally until everyone in attendance of the game noticed that Walker was lying on the turf and appeared to be injured. The first individuals to respond to this knew something was horribly wrong when they got in close proximity to him and saw that he was motionless and breathing frantically. Thankfully paramedics were on the scene and were able to help right away as they took Walker to the hospital. Upon further diagnostics it was apparent that Jordan Walker had sustained a spinal cord injury, which are never good. The vertebrae affected were both the C-3 and the C-4. They were both compressed down which resulted in paralysis from the neck down instantaneously.

Hospitalization
Following the tragic event of the injury Jordan Walker and his family spent about the next three months at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center. This time was hard fought for Walker as he battled against the dangers of infectious diseases with his immune system weakened as he was on intensive care. A tracheostomy was needed due to the fact that he did not have the sufficient energy to cough up secretions that eventually build up in a person's lungs. Just within the first month after the injury Walker dropped a total of 65 pounds going from weighing 195 pounds to 135. Friends and family would frequently visit him and the Walkers at Kaiser in hope of boosting spirits. With the young man's perseverance paired with love and support by those surrounding him, Walker was able to make it past the most critical point of his injury.

Rehabilitation
The next step on the road to recovery for Walker was rehabilitation. The first establishment that he went to was Casa Colina in Pomona, California. Walker ended up only staying a mere week there due to problems his family had with the facility. Due to the severity of the issue, his father Curtis felt that Jordan was the out of place because he was the only patient there with a high-level spinal injury. He briefly returned back to Kaiser Permanente until they found a better place for him. This better establishment ended up being Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. Craig falls under the category of the top ten facilities in the country when dealing with spinal cord injuries. Walker spent a total of nine weeks at Craig Hospital basically getting him healthy as well teaching his family how to take care of him.

Stem Cell Treatment
As the Walker family continuously was searching for different ways to aid Jordan in his recovery they came across a method that they found was promising. This new treatment came in the form of stem cells, which are a highly discussed topic in America. There are two main types of stem cells which include embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The reason why these cells are so helpful when it comes to spinal cord injuries is that they are an approach to restore the central nervous system. Once transplanted, adult stem cells have the potential to regenerate the nerves damaged in the injury. Due to restrictions placed upon stem cell research in the United States of America, the Walkers travelled all the way to Switzerland for it. Jordan Walker received his transplant in the year early in the year 2016. Since then he has already made some improvements in his rehabilitation.

Not Giving Up So Easy
Although his injury which resulted in paralysis has been anything but easy for Jordan and the rest of the Walkers, they seem to keep moving forward with hope in their hearts. When RahShaun Haylock of FOX Sports West asked him of his positivity Jordan replied, "Nobody's going to want to be around me if I'm just angry. Keeping an upbeat attitude and always trying to stay positive, it makes me happier. It makes my life easier. It makes life easier for everybody around me because it's a lot to deal with, so having an upbeat, positive attitude -- it just helps out so much." . It has been a little over three full years since that horrific night and Walker has began to gain feeling in his upper torso, which he accredits to the stem cell treatment he received. When dealing with the gravity of such an injury in the nervous system the time frame for recovery is very unclear and it can take years, nevertheless the Walkers are no strangers to obstacles.