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When you think of the word “strength” what comes to mind?
An athlete, a family member?
Springfield’s J.T. Simpson who is redefining himself while rewriting what it means to be strong.
“He’s not someone who likes to be the exception,” Kickapoo football coach Nate Thomas said, “or treated different.”
J.T.’s strength is not the normal definition of the word. And J.T. is not the normal teen fighting paralysis from the waste down.
“People are impressed with my progress,” J.T. said. “But I’m not impressed.”
In 2016, when attempting a double flip on a trampoline, J.T. landed on his head. Vertebrae shifted and shattered leaving doctors to say, he may never walk again.
J.T. took that small opening doctor’s gave him and made it happen; J.T. willed himself to walk again.
“How did this happen,” Chad Plein asked while interviewing Simpson.
“That’s a good question,” J.T. replied with no real answer.
So one day, sitting in coach Thomas’ weights class thinking of what to do next, J.T. watched student after student push a weight sled around the room.
“Even before my accident I was like, ‘why would you do that?’Â Its crazy.”
“I could see the wheels turning,” coach Thomas said.
J.T. pushed on with his life – literally. Pushing the weight sled around the Kickapoo weight room.
Coach Thomas recorded the entire event on his phone. Video that was eventually shared on social media.
“It happened on a Friday and I came on Monday, and people were like, ‘I saw your video.’Â And I was like, ‘what video?”
But this experiment with the sled was a test for the Kickapoo teen; knowing a more important moment was a few weeks away.
“That’s another reason I wanted to take this class,” J.T. said, “I wanted to walk at graduation.”
With an isle seat near the front, J.T. wheeled his way to the crutches waiting for his big moment.
“It was emotional,” J.T.’s mother Gloria said. “So amazing, and the audience was so supportive.”
“I was like, ‘I better hurry up,’ I thought I was taking forever,” J.T. said about walking across stage to receive his high school diploma. “It felt like 10-minutes to get across the stage.”
The longer it took J.T. to cross, the louder the audience at JQH Arena got.
“I think you saw the culmination of three years that he’s fought to get to this point and overcome what doctors said could not happen,” J.T.’s principal, Dr. Bill Powers said.
And now, it seems like anything is possible for the high school grad.
“it doesn’t matter what people say,” J.T. said, “it’s the determination to get it done; if you believe in it you can do it.”
J.T. will be volunteering this summer at Empower Abilities. He hopes to mentor young kids going through paralysis, showing them what can happen with positive thoughts and hard work.
