CROSSVILLE, Ala. — A DeKalb County teen has a story that defines the word ‘unbelievable’. When an accident changed Nick Walls’ life in an instant he didn’t take ‘can’t’ for an answer and defied odds – not once, but multiple times and on a national level.

We first brought you this story a year ago to the date when Crossville High School student Nick Walls defied the odds, winning titles in Track and Field throwing events.  “I had set three state records and two national records, and I had placed second in the javelin,” Nick explained.

An accomplishment in itself, but made even more incredible given Nick’s past.

A four-wheeler accident in 2014 left him unable to move or feel anything from the waist down. His doctor told him he would never walk again. “That’s when I said in my head right after he told me that, I said ‘I’m sorry, but you’re wrong.'” Nick remembered.

That motivation and faith pushed him forward.

He uses basketball to stay active. After last year’s competition he trained harder and leaned on his faith for strength.

He lives by a few simple words: “Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'”

Those words became a reality for Nick again this year.  “We went to Atlanta for a national qualifier. Nick held the national record in shot put and the discus. He broke both of those there, which more than qualified us to go back to Wisconsin to the Nationals,” said Track and Field Coach Randy Haynes, “We went there in July. “He set the record in the shot put, the discus, and the javelin. He got all three this year. We’re so proud.”

“It was mind-blowing for me and everybody else,” Nick said. He remembered thinking last year that there was more that he could do.

“He called on his faith and got a little extra help from above,” Haynes said.

And as if Nick’s story couldn’t become more unbelievable, it does. “I can walk all the way down the hallway with my braces on, without holding on to anything,” he said with a smile.

Call it what you will. This community calls it faith. “It’s just…it’s incredible,” Nick said.

Nick tells his story to churches in his community. His coach is talking with the coach for the U.S. Paralympic team about Nick joining.