Skip Redd is a music teacher from Texas whose life changed forever in 2017.

In April of that year, Skip took 106 students to a trampoline park to celebrate the end of the school year. There, Skip tried to do a backflip in front of his students and landed on his head, much to their horror.

He was rushed to Methodist Medical Center in Dallas, where he was told that he had broken his neck in two places. A nine hour surgery saved Skip’s life, but he was left paralyzed from the neck down. This meant that he could no longer play piano, which was one of his greatest passions in life.

“When I woke up, I couldn’t move anything,” Skip said. “I was paralyzed from the chest down.”

Though he was told that he would likely spend the rest of his life as a quadriplegic, Skip refused to accept this. When he was moved to a rehabilitation center in Houston, Skip put everything that he had into his recovery, setting the goal of getting back into the classroom.

After months of hard work, Skip managed to regain some movement, but he was still afraid that he would never play piano again. Though the odds were against him, the teacher refused to give up on himself.

“I realized at the time that I needed to take one day at a time,” he said. “Sometimes it was only 15 minutes or an hour at a time, or even one step at a time.”

Finally, Skip reached a major milestone when he could walk and move his arms again! In August of 2018, he was able to return to school again, and his students welcomed him with open arms.

Miraculously, Skip is now playing piano every day again. He still has some trouble with his fingers, but he is just grateful to be able to use them at all.

Skip has become a major inspiration to his students, as he has shown them the importance of never giving up regardless of what situation you are in.

Find out more about his amazing story in the video below!