Christopher McKinney says life gave him a second chance.
Hit by a train as he crossed the tracks in 2000, he survived the accident but his brain was badly damaged. The 13-year-old spent 8 months in a coma.
Eight years later, McKinney has gone to prom and graduated from high school with honors.
Now 20 years old, he works at the Sertoma Center for Clients with Disabilities.
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"I'm glad Chris is with us. He's real special," said Avis Greer, McKinney's boss.
Aside from his boss, McKinney's biggest fan may be his mom, Marlene.
"Anything we think he's capable of doing, we do it," she said.
"It's real cool. And I'm thankful for everything she's done," McKinney said of his mother.
Last summer, she found a new way to share her son's progress.
A free, secure Web site called CarePages. She shares stories with other families going through the same things.
"August 17, 2007: Hello to all. I am so excited! Chris read a whole paragraph to me today. He sounded out all of the words," one of her entries read.
"They told us there's no hope for Chris surviving. He would be a vegetable. He would never be able to do the things he does. And here he is, 8 years later doing all these things, so never give up," McKinney's mother said.
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