Luther’s Norton continues a remarkable recovery

DECORAH - You don't doubt Chris Norton. Not ever.

He told everyone last December he was going to return to school at Luther College. His second big goal was to lead the Norse football team onto the field for a game at Carlson Stadium.

That first thing's done. The freshman from Bondurant has re-enrolled at Luther and takes classes three days a week.

Saturday afternoon he'll be an honorary captain for Luther's home opener against William Penn. That's less than a year since he incurred a catastrophic injury in a game against Central.

"Excited and honored," Norton said. "Looking forward to it. This will be the first time back since my injury."

Norton broke his neck and suffered a compressed spinal cord while making a special team's tackle in a game last Oct. 16. Doctors said the chances of ever regaining movement below his neck was three percent, though he has bucked those odds and then some.

While he is still wheelchair bound, Norton has feeling and movement throughout his body. His most recent victory is being able to stand unaided for 40 seconds.

The next step in his remarkable recovery is moving himself from a chair to a bed or vice versa. The ultimate goal is obvious.

"That he will walk," said his father, Terry Norton. "It's been 10 and a half months. We were told originally that Chris had a three-percent chance of ever being able to move anything from his neck down, but you look at him now. It truly is amazing from what it could have been."

"I'm getting better," Chris said. "I definitely see progress, improvement every week. It just takes time."

He takes trips twice a week to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (about an hour-and-a-half drive from Decorah) for physical therapy and also works with trainers at Luther. He lives in a dormitory at the school with several roommates, though "I have my own bathroom."

"Very excited. Excited that he came back to school," said Luther Coach Mike Durnin, who the Norton family said has been incredible with his support during the ordeal. "He has been around us as much as he can ... I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through something like this. It's just been remarkable how Chris and his family have dealt with this."