Nobody will remember today's short walk to receive a diploma more than Peter Kuechle '93.
While for many graduates this walk symbolizes the end to a chapter in their lives, for Kuechle it represents a new hope and an opportunity many did not think was possible two months ago.
A freak rugby injury in April left Kuechle paralyzed below the waist. Doctors were uncertain if the damage to his spinal cord would prevent him from walking again.
But following two months of intense physical therapy, Kuechle will walk at today's ceremonies.
Kuechle's injury occurred during a scrum in the rugby game. A scrum is best described as a combination between a hockey face-off and a football line of scrimmage.
Eight players from each team form in three lines to fight for possession of the ball, which has been thrown on the ground at the start of the scrum.
After undergoing more than four hours of intense surgery, doctors were confident that Kuechle was regaining sensation in his legs.
But the next day, Kuechle still could not move his lower legs and he said the doctors were uncertain if he would walk again.
"They said one third of the people with this injury never walk again, one third spend their lives in a wheelchair ... it was hard to say," he said in a phone interview from his home in Ohio.
On Easter Sunday, April 14, Kuechle stood and walked with the help of his therapist and a walker. He set a goal of being able to walk on graduation day.
"My physical therapist had me stand up and walk the length of parallel bars," he said. "Then I had a feeling I might be able to come up and walk to get my diploma --but there are no parallel bars on stage."
After a five-week stay at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and outpatient therapy since, Kuechle, who is still wearing a "halo" brace to support his head and neck, is walking short distances with only the aid of two canes.
Kuechle has undergone intensive physical therapy since his injury. For the first three weeks, he spent two hours a day in physical therapy and one hour in occupational threrapy, five times a week.
He now goes to physical therapy three days a week and does exercises at home. He will continue throughout the summer.
"Right now the doctors expect that by fall there is a chance of full recovery -- but they can't guarantee I'll run again," he said. Kuechle said he hoped to walk by the end of summer without assisting devices.
"At the beginning I hoped and prayed it would be like this but I didn't want to get my hopes up too high," Kuechle said. "I didn't want to set expectations too high -- you set yourself up for a fall."
Kuechle said he first thought about walking at graduation after receiving a phone call from College President James Freedman. "After that I was more focused each day on my legs getting a little stronger," Kuechle said.
Kuechle said his close friends from Phi Delta Alpha fraternity and the rugby team have kept in touch with him throughout his recovery, some even flying out to Cleveland to visit him.
"I can't wait to see all my friends and be back in Hanover," Kuechle said last week.
Kuechle fulfilled all College requirements and completed his engineering major before Spring term.
