While warming up on the court for his last national wheelchair basketball tournament in late April, senior Tyler Malone flashes back to the beginning of his journey when he was the 9-year-old HOG week recipient.

“HOG Week saved us,” Tyler’s stepmother Cindy Malone, who is also an English teacher here, said.

Tyler, who didn’t attend school in the district, was chosen to be the HOG Week recipient in 2007, a charity week where the school comes together to raise money for one person or cause.

“I was overwhelmed, but it felt really good (to be chosen),” Tyler said.

The four-wheeler accident severed his spinal cord and left him paralyzed from the chest down.

“During his time in the hospital, he had several surgeries,” Cindy said. “He had a collapsed lung, a broken collarbone and a severed spinal cord. Since it was severed, he couldn’t walk again.”

Tyler’s father, math teacher Marty Malone who also works here, said he was flooded with emotions when the school chose Tyler to participate.

“Mrs. (Heather) Colburn asked if we would be open to Tyler being the HOG Week recipient,” Marty said. “I was thankful, sad, happy and hopeful. I just hugged her.”

Although Cindy said Tyler felt embarrassed at first, that feeling soon changed.

“Once HOG Week started, he really got into it,” Cindy said. “He thought the messy pep rallies were fun. Since it was around Halloween, it was a HOG-o-Ween.”

Despite everything happening around him, Tyler said the events, which raised around $21,000, made him feel important.

“It felt good to be the center of attention at the time,” Tyler said.

Marty said that Tyler had to learn to adapt to life after his accident.

“He had to build his upper-body strength and learn to adjust to having no control or feeling below his chest,” Marty said. “He had to learn how (to) balance himself, scoot, put on clothes, get in and out of bed, transfer to and from his chair and, ultimately, how to get from the floor into his chair, if he ever falls out or needs to.”

Although the accident changed Tyler physically, Cindy said that some things didn’t change.

“Personality wise, he didn’t change,” Cindy said. “He is as funny as he was. He also still likes the same things, like sports.”

Knowing that Tyler couldn’t play the sports he used to, Marty took him to attend a practice of the Dallas Junior Mavericks Wheelchair Basketball Team in 2007.

“He hated that first practice,” Marty said. “I told him he had to try it for a month minimum.”

Cindy said that different players accumulate different points based on the number of working components of the body.

“When you play wheelchair basketball, you can only have 13 points on the court at one time,” Cindy said. “Some people who only have an amputee leg may have 4 points because they have most of their functioning parts, whereas Tyler is a 1 point, but he is a very good 1 point.”

Wheelchair basketball has its thrills, Cindy said.

“Sometimes, he’ll lean so far back to make a shot, and I’m sure he’s about to flip, but he doesn’t,” she said. “It’s very nerve racking for me to watch, yet super exciting.”

Marty said that Tyler still lives a normal life.

“He drives a truck with modified hand controls, texts constantly, gets grounded when he gets in trouble, swims with us all in the pool and plays (for) hours on XBOX Live,” he said. “He has a great group of friends and has a girlfriend that is on the basketball team as well.”

Tyler is engaged in school activities.

“I’m involved in many events in UIL, National Honor Society and Student Council,” he said. “This participation has allowed me to get lots of scholarships.”

Tyler has received scholarship offers from Illinois and Mizzou to play wheelchair basketball.

“He has bounced from wanting to go into medicine as an anesthesiologist, into mathematics, or business,” Marty said.

With the decision quickly approaching, Marty said he tries to offer his son words of wisdom.

“We tell him to pick the field he feels a passion for because there is more happiness in a career you love than in the money you make,” Marty said.

He said Tyler has leapt through bounds along his journey.

“I am proud of him in so many ways,” he said. “He has stayed optimistic throughout the entire journey.”

The family gained more than just support from HOG Week, Marty said.

He said, “(We received) compassion, hope and (a) sense of family and love that has carried us for so long at Timberview.”