Joshua Ramirez, a senior at Legacy High School in Midland who lost one of his legs in a 2019 auto accident, recently got quite a shock in the form of a $6,000 grant to assist with his recovery.
The grant, a joint effort between the Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) and the Texas Star Oaks Fund, is intended to pay for Ramirez's medical and travel expenses, according to coverage by Your Basin and CBS 7.
"I'm still in shock because that’s a lot of money," Ramirez told Your Basin. "That’s something we actually need."
Ramirez has come a long way since Oct. 2, 2019, when he left the high school's campus for lunch and was struck by vehicle driven by another student, pinning him into a concrete wall and crushing his right leg. He was rushed to a hospital in Dallas and underwent several surgeries, but leg was later amputated.
He subsequently was fitted with a prosthetic leg and has worked through "ghost pains," phantom pains that feel like the leg is present but it isn't, as do many amputees. The prosthetic leg makes him stand out at school, but Ramirez has learned to live with being different.
"Once I got my leg, now I'm the kid with the prosthetic," he said in CBS 7's news story. "So, I mean I like it, it's cool because I’m different."
He and his mother, Stephanie Hinojos, now attend therapy sessions in Dallas every week. After years of treatment, he is again able to play basketball, run, be with his friends, and live like most any other teenager.
"This is really something we felt we needed to do," Jane Samples of P.E.O. told Your Basin. "Josh is very deserving. He’s a fine young man. We're glad that we have a grant that allows us to come up with funds pretty quickly."
His mother expressed pride in her son.
"I'm very proud of him and everything he's done, because he also pushes himself," Hinojos said, according to Your Basin.