<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, walks across the stage as he receives his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, is wipes his eyes as he is greeted by supporters after he walked across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston outside the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, is all smiles as he arrives for his graduation ceremony, where he received his doctorate in occupational therapy, from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, gives a thumbs up after he walked across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, is greeted by supporters after he walked across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston outside the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, gets out of his wheelchair as he greets supporters after walking across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, stands out of his wheelchair to greet supporters after he walked across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, hugs his mother, Quian Branon, after he walked across the stage and received his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, stands out of his wheelchair to greet supporters after he walked across the stage to receive his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Dr. Daquan Minor, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2013, walks across the stage as he receives his doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University-Houston at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Sunday, May 3, 2026. Minor used a device that electrically stimulates his nerves to use his legs to stand and walk.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
As Daquan Minor prepared to cross the graduation stage<\/a>, his only thought was “Don’t fall.”<\/p>\n At 16, Minor was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident. Doctors told him he would never walk again.<\/p>\n But on Sunday, he walked across the stage at Texas Woman’s University Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center, as a newly graduated doctor of occupational therapy, using a device that sends electrical impulses to activate his nerves and muscles.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As his mother, Quian Branon, watched him receive his doctorate, she thought of the much longer journey they’ve both taken over the last 13 years.<\/p>\n “It felt good. I had to hold all the tears in,” Branon said. “It was a struggle at first, but we came through. We weren’t about to give up. Once he made up his mind on what he wanted to do as far as his education, he did it and kept going.”<\/p>\n A three-sport athlete with professional aspirations, Minor\u2019s path changed abruptly at 16. He was a backseat passenger\u00a0in a car accident<\/a> that left him with a skull fracture and severe spinal cord injury. Minor was forced to pivot.<\/p>\n TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK: Vote for Houston’s Favorite Teacher<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Breakthrough in therapy<\/p>\n That pivot started with Lauren\u00a0Proe and Yaronda Broussard, his first physical and occupational therapists. Every day, Minor would pull the covers over his face when they walked into his room. And every day, they reminded him to get up and put in as much work and time that he previously had dedicated to his basketball career.<\/p>\n For Proe, the breakthrough came during her last session with him, when Minor first turned one of his legs inward. Broussard said she saw the biggest change a little later, when he decided to pursue occupational therapy himself.<\/p>\n “I always told him he was beyond his years,” Broussard said. “(I saw) the change from teenage Daquan into understanding, ‘Life gives you obstacles and adversity, so what are you going to do with it?'”<\/p>\n Now at 29, they see him more as a colleague \u2014 and godson \u2014 than a former patient. The two joined several other former doctors, professors, family and friends to congratulate him after the ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t forget any occupational therapist I’ve ever worked with, any physical therapist, any nurse, any physician. So all of this is a full circle of life for me,” Minor said. “Specifically, I’m graduating and becoming those who helped me when I first started off.\u201d<\/p>\n