Meet Adaptive Athlete: Jeremiah Reyes

Jeremiah Reyes is from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma where he dedicated himself to basketball growing up. He loved the team aspect of the sport and that everyone has to work together to succeed. He graduated from high school in 2020 and remained in OKC with family. 

 

During a night in April 2023, Jeremiah went out for the first time to celebrate his 21st birthday with friends and his girlfriend. Upon exiting the bar, a group of men mistook Jeremiah for someone else and initiated an altercation during which someone came up from behind Jeremiah and stabbed him in the back. The knife hit him in his T5 and T6 vertebrae and fractured his spine, leaving him paralyzed. 

 

Jeremiah embarked on a transformative journey that took him from Oklahoma City to Colorado, where he dedicated three months to intensive rehabilitation in a hospital. This experience allowed him to focus on regaining strength and function. After relocating to Texas, he continued his recovery process, making gradual progress and eventually gaining enough independence to use a walker with some assistance . Now at ATF, Jeremiah is determined to learn how to navigate his new life more independently as he adapts to his injury and embraces the opportunities ahead.