St. Paul’s School sophomore Reagan Hill was severely injured while playing in a pool in July, sustaining fractures in his C5 and C6 vertebrae, initially paralyzing him from the neck down with sustained paralysis on the right side. When he was rushed to the hospital, doctors were skeptical that he would ever walk again. Reagan is now walking with relative ease, will be discharged from the hospital today, and will soon return to campus as a full-time student.

“It has definitely been a long road, but Reagan is getting stronger every day,” Reagan’s mother Kim Hill commented on his recovery.

The St. Paul’s student’s recovery was not accomplished alone, however. Reagan and his family accredit his recovery to God, an incredible medical team at Children’s Hospital, unwavering support from the St. Paul’s community, and an unexpected benefactor.

“Chris McDonald, the owner of Mugshots Grill & Bar, was incredibly helpful and generous. He sent care packages regularly, and told us how he had his entire staff praying for Reagan. And, he had never even met him before,” Kim said. “It really is incredible that someone we have never met would do things like that.”

According to Kim, McDonald first learned about Reagan’s plight when Reagan began craving one of the restaurant’s Peanut Butter Burgers during his recovery. McDonald responding by not only delivering a burger for Reagan, but by feeding his entire medical team. Since then, their relationship has grown.

According to Kim, McDonald continues to encourage Reagan in a number of ways, follows his progress, and even gave Reagan a new laptop for school. The restaurant chain has also officially renamed Reagan’s favorite menu item the “Reagan Peanut Butter Burger” in all 11 of their locations. A portion of the proceeds from each burger will go to a charitable fund that McDonald and Reagan will operate together.

Also instrumental in Reagan’s recovery were his fellow Wolves at St. Paul’s. “I get, like a hundred texts a day,” Reagan said. “It’s great to know that people care that much.”

Reagan’s recovery has progressed at an astonishing rate, so much, in fact, that Reagan is already easing back into school, just weeks after the accident. On August 26, he walked through his class schedule for the first time on an occupational therapy outing from the hospital. He is expected to return fully within the coming weeks.

For more details on Reagan’s accident and his road to recovery, watch the Guerilla Wolves documentary below.

(Videography and editing credit: Brandon Gallego)