The student paralyzed in an accident: “Heaven is real. I'm here for a reason. "

He said, "I remember my uncle, I saw him in paradise, and he said that I will be able to get through the surgery and that everything will be fine, so I knew from that moment, I was smiling. I looked at my mom and told her everything would be fine -

Support is coming from all over the world for a Godwin High School student who was paralyzed in a car accident on his way to school. Ryan Estrada, 16, claims to have lost control of his vehicle while trying to avoid a cyclist on Gayton Road in Henrico County on November 8. "I remember passing the motorcyclist and that there was another car coming up, so I had to steer back in my lane," recalls Estrada. "I remember losing control of the wheel, hitting the mailbox and then hitting the tree." Estrada said two motorists, whom she now considers her "angels", came to his rescue and called 911.

“Vehicle in the moat with someone hanging from the vehicle does not move. The complainant believed that he had passed away, “you can hear from that morning's emergency communications. "When I was hanging out the window, I knew something was wrong because I couldn't feel anything in my shoulders and I couldn't feel anything," said Estrada. Ryan reported a rupture of the vertebrae in the neck and serious injury to the spinal cord resulting in paralysis of the hands and legs.

"It was undoubtedly the worst day of my life to see him in the emergency room so helpless and crying," said Caroline Estrada, Ryan's mother. "I was going to have surgery and all day I was sad, crying, stunned," said Ryan. “I remember my uncle, I saw him in paradise, and he told me that I will be able to get through the surgery and that everything will be fine, so I knew from that moment, I was smiling. I looked at my mother and told her that everything would be fine. You know, Uncle Jack, he took me. Ryan said he also saw his grandfather whom he had never met and whom he had only seen in family photos.

“I think it means that paradise is real and God real and that I'm here for a reason. I didn't die for a reason, "he said. “I think it happened to regain my faith. Last year I wasn't really a religious person suffering from depression. But since the accident every day praying ". Ryan spent seven days in the VCU Medical Center trauma center and has since been transferred to the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center at the VCU. He is in intense physical and occupational therapy. The family was overwhelmed by support from Ireland from a GoFundMeconto that friends created. “As Caroline prepares to bring Ryan home, doctors and therapists have informed her of all the necessary equipment including a motorized wheelchair, a wheelchair accessible van, a chair lift for the stairs, a Hoyer lift for everyone. transfers only at the beginning. Rehabilitation therapists used Tobi Dynavox with Ryan in the hospital and strongly advise him to buy one for home. This technology allows Ryan to use his eyes to operate a computer since he has no hands. They will also need to do home renovations to meet Ryan's new life, "said GoFundMe.

"The gratitude and indebtedness I feel for people and only love is so overwhelming, but it's the thing that Ryan talks about and I feel every day," said Caroline. Ryan's swimming season at Godwin High School began on the day of his accident. His hospital room is full of cards and greetings from his team and the community. "How long have you been swimming?" asked CBS 6 reporter Laura French. "Since I could walk, I can't walk anymore, but this will change," Ryan replied. "I'm going to swim next year and I'm going to the States to look at myself."

Ryan's doctors are telling him to hope for the best, but to prepare for the worst. But Ryan feels that his positivity will surpass him and he predicts that he will walk again within six months. "I just have a smile on my face it doesn't make sense to be negative that it does nothing for you, but when your positive and good mentality only good things come," said Ryan. "As desolate as it sounds, he's actually the happiest Ryan I've seen in a couple of years," said Caroline. "I worried more before [the accident] that everything has now reached its starting point and is recovering."

Ryan told his mother that everything happens for a reason. "We don't know that reason yet, but it happened for a reason and after seeing the photos of his car there is a reason why Ryan is here who will make the promise to touch life in some way but he has not understood this yet “Said Caroline. "I honestly don't know why I'm here, but I can't wait to find out," said Ryan. Sunday will celebrate its seventeenth birthday. He may be discharged from the hospital on December 27th. He hopes to return to school by February.