Inside Grand Casino ArenaAt the start of another Minnesota Wild season, one fan received a special welcome to the state of hockey.
“It feels amazing,” Jackson Drum said.
Drum is an 18-year-old from Alexandria, Minnesota, and spent nine months away from the track after a life-changing spinal cord injury.
“He broke C1 and C2, which are at the top of his spinal cord,” explained his mother, Erica Drum. “I wasn’t supposed to have any movement or be able to breathe or drink or anything.”
Erica has been by her son’s side since he was injured on the ice playing high school hockey during a game in Canada.
She says her son wouldn’t accept her prognosis.
“I just believed in myself, I believed in God,” Jackson said, adding that faith has played a big role in his journey.
“When we told him he was paralyzed in Canada, he said, ‘I’m not going to be paralyzed,'” Erica said.
Jackson spent about eight months in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Shepard Center, a rehabilitation center. There they took him off the respirator and he underwent therapy.
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“It wasn’t supposed to come off the ventilator, then it went off the ventilator. Then it wasn’t supposed to come off the feeding tube, and then it went off the feeding tube,” Erica said. “It’s so unexpected it’s like a miracle.”
After months of rehabilitation, Jackson and Erica returned home to Minnesota. It wasn’t long before they were back on the track.
“I didn’t waste any time, my coach came with me,” Jackson said of his Saturday trip to visit his teammates in Blaine, Minnesota. “I love watching my team play, I saw some of the returnees. They all heard my story and were very happy to see me.”
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While he still has more rehab in his future and a growing list of goals, Jackson wants to inspire others to beat the odds.
“I really want to show that there is hope for anyone who has a spinal cord injury,” Jackson said. “I would say always trust in the Lord with your heart and anything is possible.”
The Drum family shares updates on Jackson’s rehabilitation on Facebook.
