Watch: Paralyzed Olympian Jamie Nieto Walks at Wedding

Quite a moment.
Watch: Paralyzed Olympian Jamie Nieto Walks at Wedding
Watch: Paralyzed Olympian Jamie Nieto Walks at Wedding /

In April 2016, two-time Olympic high jumper Jamie Nieto was coaching high jump at USC when he suffered a freak injury that left him partially paralyzed from the neck down.

After surgery and months of rehabilitation, Nieto planned to walk down the aisle at his wedding in July, according a June article by the Los Angeles Times.

On Saturday, he made it happen.

Nieto was injured while attempting a backflip in practice and landing on his head. He underwent surgery to fuse a disk in his neck and then began updating his fans with videos of his progress on social media. Olympic teammate Lolo Jones also established a fund that raised more than $80,000 for his recovery and medical expenses.

Doctors originally said he would regain up to 30% of his full body function after the injury.


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Chris Chavez and Jeremy Woo
CHRIS CHAVEZ AND JEREMY WOO

An avid runner, Chris Chavez covers track and field, marathons and the Olympics for Sports Illustrated. Jeremy Woo has covered basketball for SI since 2014, including the NBA draft and weekly Power Rankings. He is from the South Side of Chicago.