Injured football player realizes dream of walking at graduation

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

LaQuan Phillips walks across the stage on his own to receive his diploma from Southeast Region Assistant Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky, left, during the Green Valley High 2009 graduation ceremony Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | 7:18 p.m.

LaQuan Phillips had Tuesday circled on his calendar for months.

As the days and weeks leading up to the big day passed, he dreamed of walking across the stage at his graduation to pick up his diploma.

And the key for the Green Valley High senior was walking, because for a long time, he could not.

In a terrifying moment on the football field, Phillips was temporarily paralyzed in September when he bruised his spine while making a tackle.

As he worked through the sometimes agonizing rehabilitation, the vision of walking with his classmates on graduation day helped keep him going.

On Tuesday, Phillips, with the help of a cane, gingerly climbed the stage stairs at the Thomas & Mack Center and received his diploma.

A crowd of 8,000 people gave him a standing ovation as he passed his cane to escort and teammate Skyler Holloway and walked the last few feet by himself.

“I said I was going to walk. I’m a man of my word,” said Phillips, whose name was called first. “I never stayed focused on what I couldn’t do, only what I was going to do.”

Phillips led the graduating class of 575 students into the arena at the start of the ceremony, sang two songs with the concert choir and was seated on the stage along with the valedictorians and school officials.

Before diplomas were passed out, Principal Jeff Horn surprised Phillips with a special honor. Phillips became the first student in the school’s 17-year history to receive the ‘Golden Gator,’ a prestigious award typically reserved for high-achieving faculty.

Horn recalled the first days after Phillips was injured and how some thought he would never walk again.

“Not only can he move his limbs, he is improving daily,” Horn said to an applauding crowd.

His road to recovery included three months of rehabilitation at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, Calif., and adapting to his physical limitations.

Phillips had initially made it his goal to play in Green Valley’s final regular season football game against Basic.

He was on the sidelines that evening, but in a wheelchair and with limited movement in his arms and legs. He eventually ditched the wheelchair in late December, walking with the help of a walker, and continued to attend twice-weekly to therapy sessions at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center in Henderson.

The reward for the hard work came at graduation.

With Holloway's help, Phillips, a four-year member of the school choir, slowly walked from his spot on the stage and down a small flight of stairs to sing at the ceremony.

“I remember being at his bedside after he got hurt and how upbeat he was about walking again,” Holloway said. “He has a really strong faith.”

Phillips said he is 75 percent recovered and promised he won’t stop working until he is back to normal. And when this lifelong football player says normal, he wants to strap up the shoulder pads one more time.

It’s a lofty goal for someone who suffered such a serious spine injury, but Phillips doesn’t care. He thrives on proving doubters wrong.

He will attend Nevada State College in the fall and plans to study physical therapy. He will continue his rehabilitation and eventually plans to join a gym to start weight training — he’s lost about 30 pounds, mostly muscle.

“Nobody has a spirit like LaQuan,” said Delphine Lakes, his aunt and legal guardian. “Since he was a baby, he has always had a mind of his own.”

As Phillips exited the arena, receiving congratulations from virtually everyone, he flashed a big smile that has been his signature through the tragedy. While his family and friends were crying in the initial days after his injury, Phillips always stayed strong.

“It’s great to know the people at this school love me as much as I love them,” Phillips said. “I will always love them. Once a Gator, always a Gator.”