Paralyzed Hockey Player Getting Stronger, Sitting in Chair

The family of Jack Jablonski says the paralyzed prep hockey player is able to "take in the world" from a vertical position with the help of a special chair.

On Jablonski's CaringBridge website, his family writes that they were able to give him a tour of the floor at Hennepin County Medical Center where he's been hospitalized since his injury in a Dec. 30 hockey game. The 16-year-old Benilde-St. Margaret sophomore suffered a severed spinal cord at the neck and two fractured vertebrae after he was checked from behind and hit the boards.

Family members say Jablonski is getting stronger every day and will soon be ready for rehabilitation. He has been able to move his arms below the triceps, a movement that doctors thought would be unlikely.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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