Oklahoma's Own: Paralyzed Collinsville Teen Finds Freedom In Basketball

An Oklahoma teenager - nearly killed in a tragic accident - is beating the odds and embracing life. He shows how a positive attitude can be the best medicine for Oklahoma's Own.

This is a moment Logan Shaw has been looking forward to: signing a college athletics letter of intent. As a Collinsville High School senior, he's ready for an exciting future.

Logan is a good student. He's a hard worker. He's a survivor. Since he was a little boy, Logan has always loved sports. But his biggest victory, is surviving a tragic accident.

"I was actually in the house and I hear a car horn blaring," said Quinn Shaw, Logan's dad.

At 13 years old, Logan was nearly killed.

"I was in a go cart, and we were pulling out of my dad's driveway and didn't see a car coming and got hit," Logan said.

The car mangled the go kart, injured a friend, and nearly killed him.

"Honestly, he should have died three times. With the accident and what followed after," said Melissa Ryan, Logan's mom.

"I ended up breaking my left arm, my left shoulder blade, three ribs," Logan explained.

He broke his pelvis in five places, punctured a lung, and bruised his heart. A broken leg. A cut spleen. But the most lasting injury was to his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

"As soon as you get put in a wheelchair, everything that you took for granted is gone, you have to re-gain it back," Logan said.

Logan had to learn to do things much differently. He regained weight, but most of all developed a remarkable spirit.

"I can't make my spinal cord injury better, but I can make life quality better," Logan said.

For Logan, his quality of life improved through basketball.

"Everything else around me just disappears and it's just me and the basketball," he said.

Logan says wheelchair basketball keeps him active, gives him something to look forward to, and has helped him bounce back from adversity.

"As soon as I got, found basketball, I realized that I can still be just as active as I was before," he said.

And as soon as he realized he could compete on the collegiate level, Logan discovered a passion.

"He's always been motivated but since the accident it's just like, it's gone into hyper drive," said Quinn Shaw, Logan's dad.

Logan is up and down the court, hour after hour, day after day, practicing. Developing his skills, and showing a remarkable spirit.

"If you sit there and say woe is me, woe is me, then you're going to sit there and nothing is going to happen," Logan said.

What has happened for Logan, is he's drawn attention because of his athleticism and his positive attitude.

He signed a letter of intent for a college scholarship to play wheelchair basketball at the University of Texas at Arlington.

"The best things worth getting are worth working for. You have to have a good attitude, keep your head up, and always strive to move forward," Logan said.

Even if a shot misses its mark, even if life throws you a curve.

"I couldn't be more proud," said dad Quinn Shaw.

"He'll do good things in his life. I have no doubt about that. He's such a good kid," said mom Mellissa Ryan.

"Your disability doesn't make you, you make your disability," Logan said.

Logan plans to major in Business in college, and has a goal of one day making the U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Basketball team.