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Beating The Odds: L.I. Teen Walks Again After Becoming Paralyzed In Swimming Accident

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island teen is walking again months after he was paralyzed in a devastating swimming accident.

Nico Fiorello, 17, of Seaford was afraid he'd end up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life after breaking his neck when he dove into a sand bar at Jones Beach on May 17.

"I dove in and then I hit the ground on my head and then after that I couldn't move anything," Fiorello said.

As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, friends and lifeguards whisked the critically injured teen to Nassau University Medical Center for emergency neck surgery.

"There was a fracture in the bone here and the piece of bone had pierced into the spinal cord," Dr. Elizabeth Fontana, Director of Neurosurgery, NUMC, said.

L.I. Teen Walking Again After Becoming Paralyzed In Swimming Accident

The first question he asked his doctor was, "Will I ever walk again?"

"She said, 'I don't know,'" Fiorello said.

Doctors said Nico could only wiggle his toes, adding that only 10 percent of people suffering such severe neck injuries ever walk again.

Nico's parents were in shock at the prospects

"Oh my god, I was like, 'was he ever going to walk again? He's 17, this can't be happening.' He's my baby, and he hates when I say that," Lorraine Fiorello said.

After several surgeries to insert rods while fusing two neck vertebrate together, doctors watched in amazement as Nico quickly progressed through physical therapy to finally stand on his own.

"I really think he's going to be normal. The odds of that are really non-existent," Dr. Fontana said.

Now, the teen is walking again with the help of a walker and will start high school on time this Thursday.

"Standing up here being able to walk is just amazing," Fiorello said, standing alongside his doctors and parents at a press conference Wednesday at Nassau University Medical Center.

L.I. Teen Walking Again After Becoming Paralyzed In Swimming Accident

The recovery was so rapid that Nico is now ready to re-enter high school for his senior year.

"I'm really happy to go back to school and see my friends. They're all proud of me and happy to see me," he said.

"Tomorrow is my birthday and he's going back to school. That's the best present ever," Lorraine said.

He even hopes to play lacrosse by the spring.

"That's my goal, to return for lacrosse season," Fiorello said. "I also plan to go to college."

Dr. Fontana, said Fiorello beat the odds.

"He's a superstar," Fontana said. "For every Nico there's 100 patients that don't make this kind of recovery."

Doctors presented the teen with a backpack for school.

Fiorello said he plans to go on to college with hopes of becoming a physical therapist and helping others.

"There's always hope, always a way to get better, you just have to believe," he said.

It's a sincere faith that Fiorell proves with every determined step.

The teen said he expects to recover well enough to re-join the Seaford High School lacrosse team next spring.

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