Former Milton Academy hockey player still regaining strength three years after accident – Boston News, Weather, Sports

CANTON, MASS. (WHDH) – Former Milton Academy hockey player Jake Thibeault, now 21, is marking the third anniversary of a serious accident on the ice.

On September 4, 2021, Thibeault suffered a spinal cord injury during a Milton Academy hockey game. The injury left him paralyzed from the waist down, but in that moment he knew he would fight.

“I always knew that paralysis would not stop me, and that's what I said when the neurosurgeon stood next to me and explained the severity of my injury and my ability to fight,” Thibeault said.

He trains at Journey Forward in Canton and works physically and mentally toward his goal of being able to walk again.

“I really don't have a bad day because I've changed my perspective in these three years. The fact that just getting up in the morning, the fact that I can come here and fight paralysis four days a week is a good moment,” Thibeault said.

One aspect of his life that he doesn't take for granted is being a member of the Babson College hockey team.

“I'm a teammate like any other guy on this team,” he said. “If they're training to be a better hockey team, I'm training to skate.”

And Thibeault is making progress day by day. In 2022, a year after his injury, he graduated from high school on foot from Milton Academy.

“My goal is to run at Babson and graduate with less help than I did at Milton. Who knows, but I'm going to do everything in my power and everything I can control to make that happen,” Thibeault said.

Working hard to show others that there is hope, Thibeault overcomes all adversities and is a hockey star who continues to steal the show.

“Hockey is a passion of mine and always will be, probably the passion of my life and my identity, but my goal is something we will strive for every day,” he said.

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