A life recovered
Boca grad fought to overcome coma.
Alexis Vazquez, 31, marked a personal best Wednesday afternoon when he walked across the stage and accepted his degree from Palm Beach State College.
It’s part of a big comeback, catching up on a life delayed. Vazquez had to relearn how to walk — let alone talk and eat — after he and a date were hit by a car in Boca Raton on Aug. 16, 2007. His date suffered broken bones. He was in a coma for three months.
After extensive physical and speech therapy, he was well enough by 2009 to start taking college classes at Palm Beach State, a few at a time. He received his associate in arts degree. He starts Florida Atlantic University this summer. “I’m not trying to rush it,” he said about majoring in communications.
His mother, Maria Vazquez, who he lives with in Boca, and sisters were in the audience for the ceremony, one of two graduations Wednesday at the Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Former Palm Beach State College board of trustees chairman Charles Cross Jr. asked Vazquez to stand and be recognized before the diplomas were handed out.
“This community embraced me,” said Vazquez, who attributes his comeback to that support and his faith. He’s a member of Calvary Chapel in Boca.
He tells his inspirational story wherever he’s invited, including schools and
churches. He also has been a speaker for Dori Saves Lives, a safedriving foundation. “I try not to focus on what I can’t do,” Vazquez said.
His message is never to give up in life and never quit, even if it means taking what he calls “baby steps.” He looks forwarding to marrying and having a family one day.
“Such an inspiration to all of us,” said Lynn Strayer, school administrative assistant at Boca Raton High School.
Vazquez, a Boca High graduate himself, will start his sixth year there as a full-time assistant in the behavorial/physical needs program, Strayer said.
“I love my job. I work at a high school, so I understand the importance of an education,” Vazquez said.