GLENDALE, AZ — Students poured into the Mountain Ridge High School gymnasium Friday morning with music blaring as they ended the week with an assembly to celebrate some milestones.
The Deer Valley Unified school celebrated another A+ rating for that specific high school but for senior Jett Weinstein, the milestone he celebrated was a bit different.
Surrounded by a group of his friends and former football teammates, Weinstein danced all he could with a smile on his face, while pushing himself around in a wheelchair.
“If I was sitting in the hospital and tell me I'd do the senior dance, I'd probably laugh at them,” Weinstein said.
In February, Weinstein ended up in the hospital after a crash on Interstate 17 near Cordes Junction. He and his 16-year-old friend were on their way home from snowboarding when they crashed into a guardrail. His friend passed away and now Weinstein is adjusting to his new life.
“Just my whole life really changed. Sleeping's hard. Really just working and my energy is low but it's good being back,” he described.
Weinstein had his right leg amputated. He went through seven surgeries while in the hospital and his mom told ABC15 they didn’t know if they could save his other leg, but they did.
“It's been a lot of recovering and physical therapy. It's good being at school because it takes my mind of things. It's good being with friends,” he said.
He was released from the hospital in mid-March and returned to finish his senior year on April 1, very grateful for all his friends and support around him.
“It's amazing. The first day he came back, hopes were crazy. Everyone was excited to see him. I don't think anyone really expected for him to be out here just a few months after dancing with all of us,” Weinstein’s friend Cole Christopherson said.
To dance with his friends just months after enduring all that pain, Weinstein is happy. They spent weeks figuring out the choreography so he could dance alongside his peers before they all move on to their next chapter.
Weinstein said he plans to walk in graduation, and he continues going through physical therapy and practicing to get to that goal.
“Just getting my legs better, recovering and getting stronger,” Weinstein said of his future.
“He’s a fighter. He’s got a big heart,” Christopherson added.
