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Gilbert teen overcomes horrible motorcycle accident, works to inspire others

Posted at 10:19 PM, Nov 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-18 14:10:22-05

Life has always been about adventure for 19-year-old Wyatt Tidwell. 

"Anything that had wheels or anything that had to do with sport. I love to be outside and doing stuff,” said Tidwell.

That all changed for the teen last year.

One October afternoon, Tidwell took his motorcycle from school to work. During that short ride his bike malfunctioned. He couldn’t shift down and lost control.

He eventually crashed and was thrown from his motorcycle. The list of his injuries is staggering. 

"I broke a few spots in my spine, dislocated it at t-10, tore my spinal cord, broke my femur, broke some ribs, and had a collapsed lung,” Tidwell rattled off. 

Doctors told Wyatt that he would never walk again, and that he would be confined to a wheel chair.

Tidwell didn’t let that get him down however. In fact, he vowed it would never hold him down. 

"My attitude has been to try to stay as strong as possible. To be as positive as I can,” said Tidwell. 

In 13 months Tidwell went through grueling rehab sessions, but the progress has been unbelievable.

He’s working out at a gym, he does pull ups on his own, sky dives, and just recently he put out a video showing him use robotics to help simulate walking.

His motivation for all of his hard work is written permanently on his forearm: "Today's pain is tomorrow's strength".

So what does Wyatt want others to feel about watching his progress?

"If someone else can look at me and go wow, a kid in a wheel chair has all these things against him and is doing this, then me with two legs I can do it too,” exclaimed Tidwell. 

If you’d like to help Wyatt recover financially you can visit a GoFundMe set up in his name.