It has been nearly a year since an injury paralyzed Jack Jablonski. During these months, he has made physical progress that has been described as remarkable. He has even rejoined gone back to school and rejoined his classmates. His family also had a renovation done to their home so that they could better accommodate his disability.

Jablonski, also known as “Jabs,” was the recipient of the CBS Courage in Sports Award. The award is given to an athlete who has an inspiring story. He won this award because thousands of people submitted votes through Facebook. He got to watch the CBS program with his friends and family at the Minnesota Wild headquarters.

Basically, Jabs has taken a devastating injury and turned it into something positive. He was left paralyzed when he sustained a hit while playing hockey. He had to be tutored all summer while working on his recovery, but he is back with his school mates at Benilde St. Margaret’s and is doing well.

It took 9 months for him and his family to be able to move back into their Minneapolis home where they had to make changes. One major renovation was an elevator for Jabs so he could have use of the entire house.

Currently, he has to undergo therapy at the Courage Center as a part of their Able program. This is therapy that costs his family $18,000 every three months. Insurance will not cover it. Currently, the therapy is covered by online donations. The donations go into a fund that is set aside specifically for these medical expenses.

Despite the cause of Jabs’ injuries, however, he and his family continue to love hockey and they have taken their experience to push for tougher penalties at the high school and youth levels, especially for the type of hit that led to Jabs becoming paralyzed. Had the hit had a much stricter penalty, Jabs may not be paralyzed today.

While Jabs’ paralysis can be considered horrifying, it has not kept his brother, Max, off of the ice. He plays within the youth hockey lead and wears Jabs’ number 13 jersey.