PORT NECHES, Texas — On Wednesday some Port Neches-Groves alumni, who are nurses at Texas Children's Hospital, held a personal pep rally for a very special football player.
Noah Jackson suffered a traumatic brain injury during a junior varsity game in October.
For the past couple of weeks, Jackson has been out of the ICU and is on the road to recovery in Texas Children's Hospital’s rehab center.
His family said he's getting better, and support like this helps more than anyone could imagine.
"When one of us hurts, we all hurt," said Deputy Superintendent Julie Gauthier.
Some people know Jackson and his family well, others, just share a zip code, but the community in Port Neches-Groves looks out for one another.
"We already knew this was a great community, but after this, it's brought so many people together, and it's overwhelming,” cousin Kayla Moore said.
Gauthier said the support comes from the heart.
"From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it, and from the inside looking out you can’t really explain it. It's something you really just have to live," Gauthier said.
That Port Neches-Groves pride stretches far and wide.
"And here we've got nurses at Texas Children's Hospital who are alumni," Gauthier said. “It shows what we have here is so much more than just a school. It's a heartfelt community, and our alumni are still showing the love."
"I don’t really know how to explain it,” Moore said. “It’s overwhelming; it’s emotional. Just little things you didn’t think people would care about but they are coming from everywhere."
For Jackson, that love is seeping in.
"He's starting to realize how much he's loved and supported, it's kind of helping him with the healing process,” Moore said. "At therapy, he started sitting in a wheelchair, walking on a walker, talking like his normal self."
Each day is an opportunity to make some progress.
Thursday’s season finale football game will have raffle tickets that offer a chance to win Dallas Cowboy tickets.
His family said, fingers crossed, Jackson could be coming home next month.
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