This story originally appeared on NBC2 in 2019. Boomer now attends Indiana University and works with the men’s basketball team. He’s moving forward toward his goal of becoming a sports agent.
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.– When Boomer Hornbeck’s history class at Naples High School is finished, the 17-year-old only has a few minutes to shuffle across the building to get to geometry.
Hornbeck walks with a limp, one of the side effects of a diagnosis with cerebral palsy as an infant.
Most teachers wouldn’t mind if he arrives at their class a few minutes late, but Hornbeck won’t take it. He’s determined to rise above expectations, just like he has from birth.
“Expectations were as low as they get,” Hornbeck said. “[Doctors] told my mom straight up that your son is not going to walk; your son is not going to do anything independently.”
An encounter with Urban Meyer, then head football coach at the University of Florida, helped inspire Hornbeck to rise above at the age of five.
“I was sitting in a wheelchair. I was fresh out of surgery,” Hornbeck said. “And he said next time that I see you I want to see you walk.”
Three months later, on the field of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at UF, Hornbeck took his first steps after being wheeled outside by Gators quarterback Tim Tebow.
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It’s been years since Meyer left Florida, but he still keeps in touch with Hornbeck through text messages. Tebow does as well because the teen now inspires each of them.
After enduring 23 surgeries, Boomer spends much of his free time at the gym – hoping to walk without a limp eventually.
He also gives motivational speeches to his classmates at school and other outside groups.
“I want to let people know you can do anything you put your mind to,” Hornbeck said.
The post Born with cerebral palsy, Naples’ Boomer Hornbeck continues to defy expectations appeared first on NBC2 News.
