Overcoming the odds
Nobel Haskell, was a cross-country athlete from Denver CO. “Three of my good buddies from cross country were all taking a road trip right before a couple of them left for college and one left for the army – one last hoorah if you will. We went to Branson, Missouri. On our way back, we were passing through Kansas on I-70 and we were rear-ended. And I was a “Flight for Life” from Russell, Kansas, down to Wichita where they had to perform surgeries to take the broken bones out of my neck, fuse my neck, to do to make it so I had the best possible chance for recovery,” he said. He spent the next 31 days in a Wichita Hospital, followed by four more months at Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. When he came back to Colorado, he was a quadriplegic. His neck was broken. According to the news sources, the doctors said that he might never be able to walk or even use his hands.
He proved himself “Nobel”, he did not give up hope. Despite the physical challenges, Nobel Haskell has been able to focus on getting better with the help of his family, doctors and a mix of intensive therapies. The saying “one step at a time” has rarely carried so much inspiration. But, according to Noble Haskell, to those closest to him, the progress isn’t a shock. “I think a lot of people who don’t know me as well, they were pretty surprised, but some of my friends that are closest to me, I’m sure they weren’t surprised. I’m sure they always knew,” Day by day, Haskell progressed. “I slowly gained a lot more mobility and strength. Obviously, I lost a lot of muscle, but I was able to start doing a flicker with my finger; a flicker of my big toe. That snowballed into more movement, more strength, and more mobility all around.” “Keep doing what I need to do and keep fighting day by day, session by session, week by week, until I’m eventually back to running again,” Haskell told himself.
For most high school seniors, their graduation ceremony is the pinnacle of success. For Noble Haskell walking to receive his diploma proved how far he has come since he became paralyzed. “The past two years it’s just taken so much hard work just to be able to get to a point where I’m able to walk across the stage.” On May 31, Nobel stepped onto the Smoky Hill High School podium, and his fellow schoolmates and teachers cheered him on and gave him a standing ovation. He recently walked for part of a 5K that helped raise money for his physical therapy treatments. “It was really powerful for me and everyone there,” he said proudly. “It took everything I’ve got to get here, but as I said, the job’s not finished, and I still have more to go, and this is just the beginning.”
Graduation humor
The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.
If you majored in fine arts or philosophy, you have good reason to be worried.
The only place you are now really qualified to get a job is in Ancient Greece.
A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that “individuality” is the key to success.
You have committed the grave tactical blunder of acquiring enough university credits to graduate. So now you’re leaving college and embarking on the greatest adventure – and the biggest challenge of your young lives: moving back in with your parents.
September 4th Birthdays
1997 – Victoria Morales, 1981 – Beyonce Knowles, 1970 – Ione Skye, 1951 – Judith Ivey
1981 – Max Greenfield, 2002 – Tenzing Trainor, 1961 – Damon Wayans, 1949 -Tom Watson