Among the students who received their diplomas with this year’s class of 2024 at Hurricane High School, Madison Gill’s journey was unlike any other. After an accident left her paralyzed, she began an arduous two-year journey of intense physical therapy, supported by incredible caregivers and marked by numerous ups and downs, which culminated in a triumphant walk across the graduation stage to receive her high school diploma.

Gill’s inspiring journey is one of courage, determination, and resilience, but it began with a tragedy. In the summer of 2022, after a day of cliff jumping, laughter, and music with friends at Sand Hollow Reservoir in southern Utah, she was a passenger in the backseat of a truck when it rolled. Gill, who was not wearing her seatbelt, was ejected through the back window. 

She still recalls the impact, the feeling of lying outside the truck, and the comforting presence of a police officer until she lost consciousness, only to awaken in a hospital room with her mother, Bridget, by her side.

"I couldn't move my legs,” Gill recalled. “I remember I just kept crying over and over and apologizing to my mom.” She was admitted to Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital with a T12 spinal fracture, wrist fracture, ankle fracture, and numerous other injuries. 

Gill, who was a cheerleader at the time of the accident, spent months in the hospital and inpatient rehab. Although this period of time was difficult, she remembers the kindness and care of those involved in her treatment who helped her commemorate significant events in her life, like celebrating her birthday—a day that held profound meaning for her—with a brief mall visit coordinated by her caregivers and a small party with cake in a conference room. 

When it was time for her to go home, she practiced for days to get in and out of the car in anticipation of this milestone. "It's harder than you think it is," Gill laughed, as she remembered the process of what was once something she had never had to think twice about.  

Her mother and sister became certified caregivers, supporting Gill as she adjusted to her new reality at home. But life had another curveball in store: the loss of one of her best friends in a climbing accident plunged Gill into depression, halting her progress.

It would be several months before Gill would decide she wanted to try again. In August of 2023, she needed to stand to get something for her nephew. "I took four steps,” Gill said. Those four steps were important, helping her choose to rededicate herself to walking again. When she expressed her desire to return to physical therapy, her mother knew just who to call: Tyson Winder, a physical therapist with Intermountain’s Hurricane Physical Therapy Clinic, who had previously worked with her family. 

“The goal that she expressed was that she wanted to walk across the stage at graduation,” Winder said of their first meeting in January of this year.

 Gill and Winder got to work. First, she needed an ankle fusion to help combat some of the problems she was experiencing. Following the procedure, Winder was able to start Gill’s physical therapy while also pushing her to gain confidence and ability. 

Winder said he focused on keeping it simple. He was literally training her body to take steps, work through the atrophy, and compensate for the way her body shifted and her sides rotated. Together, they made small strides as she achieved one hundred steps in just a few months time.  

"Tyson is my best friend; he is the person who pushes me when I need it. He doesn't caudle or baby me, and he is a huge reason I walked across the graduation stage," Gill said. 

As the week before graduation approached, they game-planned “the walk” and even went to the field the day before to do a practice walk. They evaluated the stage and the precise number of steps Gill would have to take. Then Gill had one final request of Winder: Would he walk alongside her on the stage?

"It meant a lot that she trusted me that much," Winder said. “Here you have this cheerleader who had her world turned upside down, and she trusted me to help her. To receive that invitation to be with her in such a moment was such an honor.”

Graduation day arrived on May 22, 2024. With a crowd of support that included her family, friends, caregivers, the police officers from the scene of the accident, school administrators, and peers, Gill crossed the graduation stage confidently, accepting her diploma with Winder by her side. 

Gill achieved what she once thought was impossible. Each step, each movement, each one of those 105 feet represented a moment of self-growth, the courage and confidence she had found as she faced her trials, the future she had ahead of her, and the person who had supported her on her journey. 

"Walking across the graduation stage was a huge relief because it meant I had actually graduated from high school,” Gill said. “School was challenging even before the accident, and the year after was even tougher. But when senior year came, I was determined to finish strong and walk across that stage. In that moment, all I could think was, 'Don't fall. Don't trip. Just get it done.' And I did."