Amazing recovery for Norton

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

He said last December he was going to return to Luther College. His second 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 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, less than a year after incurring a catastrophic injury 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 tackle last Oct. 16. Doctors said the chance of regaining movement below his neck was 3 percent. He bucked those odds and then some.

He's wheelchair bound, but Norton has feeling and movement throughout his body. His most recent victory standing unaided for 40 seconds. The next step 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 3-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 travels twice a week to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. (about an hour-and-a-half from Decorah) for physical therapy and works with Luther trainers. He lives in a school dormitory with several roommates.

“Very excited. Excited that he came back to school,” Luther Coach Mike Durnin said. “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.”