Shepherd, a private, non-profit catastrophic care hospital with 120 beds, is the largest of 14 U.S.
“model centers” for treatment and rehabilitation of spinal cord and brain injuries. It began in 1975 after Alana and Harold Shepherd’s 22-year-old son, James, was injured in a body-surfing accident in Brazil. James, now Shepherd chairman of the board, walks with a cane or uses a motorized chair. His parents fulfilled a vow to fight paralysis if he survived. Mike Utley, the Detroit Lions football player who has been in a wheelchair since an injury in a 1991 NFL game, donated funds for a wheelchair fitness course at Shepherd. Former pro wrestler Lex Luger did rehab there and speaks on behalf of the center. Former NBA player Rodney Rogers was treated there after suffering a spinal cord injury. Sanchez’s scar resembled a closed zipper, a mark of surgery to repair his spinal column after a near-fatal high school football injury Aug. 20, 2004. Cannon showed off the exit wound from a sniper’s bullet he took Dec. 29, 2006, in Baqubah, Iraq. They are both lean, young men. Sanchez is 20. Cannon is 22. But there is a stark difference between them, drawn by chance. Sanchez could stand. Cannon sat in a wheelchair. “You’re why I’m going on this ride,” Sanchez said.
“That’s awesome,” Cannon said. The native of Sugar Land, Texas, paused, then said, “I’m going to stand some day, too.”