Eric LeGrand took the stage Wednesday in front of an audience of 70 people at the Busch Campus Center to present his outlook for the future, reflecting the events theme of Dont Stop Believing.

Dr. Wise Young, his physical therapist and mentor, held the microphone for LeGrand as he recalled his injury during the Oct. 16, 2010 Scarlet Knights football game against Armys Black Knights in the Meadowlands Stadium.

When I first got hurt, I was laying on that field, and I felt like I knocked the wind out of myself, LeGrand said. Coach [Greg] Schiano came running up to me and said you just got to keep praying, you just got to fight.

LeGrand said he saw his mother before he was taken off the field and assured her that he would be all right.

After seeing his mother, LeGrand said he blacked out and was unable to remember anything that happened until the following Wednesday, four days after his injury.

The first year, you face things youve never faced in your whole life, LeGrand said.

Young, director of the Unversitys W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience said he first met LeGrand about six weeks after his injury.

Young said he told LeGrand that he was working on therapies for chronic spinal cord injuries and that he wanted LeGrand to feel that he was not alone.

I want to make sure that Eric understands that we are here working for him, Young said. Hes my hero. He always was poised. He always had this confidence that he was able to do this.

LeGrand said he began therapy with a lot of stretching and soon progressed to therapies, such as what he called the standing frame where LeGrand would be able to stand with assistance from a mechanical frame.

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