Paralyzed Georgia Teen Walks at His High School Graduation

— -- A paralyzed high school student in Georgia did something described by some as a miraculous step forward: he walked at his graduation.

Thanks to a special medical device, Will Hutchins of Heard County was able to walk across the stage to receive his diploma at his graduation ceremony Friday night, ABC affiliate WSB-TV reports. It led to a standing ovation from the audience inside Atlanta’s Shepherd Center.

“I knew I was going to be able to do it somehow,” Hutchins told WSB-TV.

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At 16, Hutchins was involved in a car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down. But a new device called the Indego -- which assists spinal cord injury victims in their ability to move -- helped fulfill a goal that might have seemed impossible in the wake of the crash.

“We were going to be able to see this day and so it’s been a goal of Will’s since his injury -- one way or another -- to walk across the stage,” Hutchins’ mother told WSB-TV.