KRISTIN BAUER

KRISTIN BAUER

At the end of a therapy session, Kyle Delligatti and his mother, Wendy Murray, talk about colleges in a room at Keystone Pointe Health and Rehabilitation Center in LaGrange. After Kyle was critically injured in a February car crash, doctors said he would never walk or talk again. Now, just several months later, Kyle is learning to walk, and he is on course to graduate with his friends. He plans to attend college, and says one day he will be president of the United States.

KRISTIN BAUER

Wendy Murray gives Kyle a kiss after he took his first five steps after the crash in February that nearly took his life. Wendy put one hundred dollars on the line if her son could just complete 5 steps-- Kyle tripled that number completing 17 in total.

KRISTIN BAUER

With help from Keystone Pointe nurses and therapists, Kyle takes his first steps since stepping into his Ford Taurus last February. He walked 17 steps across the room.

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Kyle’s room is personalized with personal touches from his friends, including Star Wars movie memorabilia items and well-wishing posters, photos and cards.

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Kyle uses an iPad to help him communicate. He is able to speak, but also uses the iPad to help others understand him.

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Hundreds of friends, family members, classmates and community members participated in the Color for Kyle run on Sunday afternoon. Kyle’s friends organized the run, which raised several thousand dollars to help Kyle's family with the cost of his treatments and recovery.

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After finishing the Color For Kyle 5K, Keystone community members as well as Kyle’s friends and family gathered around a television screen to webchat with Kyle. Kyle was unable to attend the color run, but was still able to visit with friends.

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Kyle receives constant love and support from his friends throughout his entire recovery process. After leaving Keystone Pointe, which was located a minute’s walk from Keystone High School, Kyle and Wendy were both concerned about how his friends were going to make the hour journey to downtown Cleveland for visits. However, his friends come to see him every Sunday afternoon, and when they are unable to see him during the week, Kyle’s friends regularly visit with him via webchat.

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With much apprehension, Kyle allows occupational therapist Julie Jowett to stretch his arms during a water therapy session, while supported by recreational therapist Bethany Battershell. This is the first time Kyle has been in a pool and able to stretch since his accident earlier this year. Jowett said Kyle will be particularly soar after water therapy sessions at first. However according to doctors, these sessions are important to Kyle so he can learn to walk again.

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With a little help, Kyle takes his first steps using a walker during a therapy session at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center.

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With a little help from Physical Therapist Chelsea Behling, Kyle takes his first steps using a walker during a therapy session at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center.

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Kyle is not only known for his general love of the color orange, but also his happy demeanor with the constant thumbs-up he gives during conversations.

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Kyle stuck his finger into the icing of his cake to sample its taste as his mother Wendy and brother Jay Michael, 8, stand by. Kyle turned 18 this past November and celebrated his birthday at the hospital with his friends and family.

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Kyle's stepfather Jay Murray works on painting Kyle's new room at their Penfield Township home. They moved Kyle to a downstairs bedroom so Kyle could have a wheelchair access ramp and easily access the common areas of the home.

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Wendy fumbles with her card keys to swipe out of Kyle’s unit at the Cleveland Clinic for the final time as Kyle’s nurses see him off. Kyle is finally headed home.

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Wendy Murray smiles as she packs Kyle’s wheelchair into the back of her SUV while leaving the Cleveland Clinic for the last time.

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Kyle's stepfather Jay Murray pushes Kyle up the wheelchair ramp and through the doors of their Penfield Township home where all of Kyle’s friends were waiting behind the kitchen counter for his arrival.

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Wendy Murray stands in her son’s room trying to catch her breath as she wipes a tear from her eye after hearing the sounds of her son Kyle and his friends laughing in the other room. She explained she has not heard those sounds in almost a year, and she missed it.

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Kyle Delligatti attended Keystone High School's Winter Formal on Saturday night, Jan. 31.

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Kyle Delligatti and his friend Amy Spanos left Kyle's wheelchair behind as they danced at Keystone High School's Winter Formal on Saturday night, Jan. 31.

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After being named Prom King during the Keystone High School prom, Kyle Delligatti dances with his friend Madison Copley on Saturday night, May 9 at Kalahari Resort in Sandusky.

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Kyle Delligatti makes his way down the halls at Keystone High School in his new power wheelchair.

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During breaks from classes at Keystone High School, Kyle practices walking during in-school physical therapy sessions.

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A receiving line of handshakes awaited Kyle as he walked to accept his high school diploma on Friday, June 5.

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Wendy Murray gives her son Kyle a big thumbs up as he walks to accept his high school diploma on Friday evening, June 5.

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After receiving their diplomas, the Keystone High School graduating class went to the lawn in front of First Baptist Church, in Elyria, and let go of balloons in celebration of their graduation on Friday, June 5.