Double-amputee wows classmates after walking to accept high school diploma

(Courtesy Fox 5)

An Alabama teen recently surprised his classmates at his high school graduation when he walked to accept his diploma— just one year after having both legs amputated in a severe car accident.

Carlos Bell, of Pleasant Grove, Ala., was placed in a medically induced coma for nine days after a reckless driver ran his car off the road on Mother’s Day 2015, Fox 5 reported.

When he woke up, he found doctors had amputated his right and left leg.

“I didn’t know how to take it,” he told the news station. “I didn’t see myself walking again.”

Over the next year, Bell learned how to walk, but he always used a wheelchair in front of his teachers and classmates.

At graduation in May 2016, they thought he was going to use assistance to accept his diploma. But Bell shocked the crowd to stand with his new prosthetic legs— a feat that prompted a standing ovation from the other students clad in caps and gowns.

“Don’t let anybody ever tell you that you can’t do something,” he told Fox 5.