Chris Norton sat in a Paidea class Wednesday at Luther College. For most students, that wouldn't be that significant.
But the Bondurant, Iowa native sustained a serious injury in a Luther football game last October and has been undergoing therapy ever since. He has progressed a long way—enough to be able to attend classes again this fall.
"I've worked very hard the last 10 months to be able to return to school, and I'm really happy to be back on campus with all of my friends. I feel very blessed with the opportunity to be back here," Chris tells decorahnews.com.
He moved back into a dorm at Luther last weekend. His parents, terry and Deb, stayed in Decorah for the week and helped get everything all settled before heading back home.
Chris says it's nice to have more normalcy back in his life: "I live in a cluster and there are always people around that are up for doing something."
His sister, Alex, has moved to Decorah to help Chris with his physical therapy and to help him negotiate around the Luther campus. "I just graduated from nursing school in May and thought it would be a good opportunity to try something different," she tells decorahnews.com. "I came up with the idea last winter and thought it would be fun living close to Chris and helping out when he needs something. The people from Decorah have been amazing with everything and I can't think of a better place to be."
Chris continues to receive physical therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays he splits therapy time between Euro Team and Team Rehab. Says Chris, "I've been going to these two places for the past couple of weeks and I have really enjoyed it. It's really neat to be able to do water therapy."
A number of people have been helping the Nortons to make Chris' return to campus go well. The Luther athletic trainers are helping with extra therapy. Luther Student Services helped with getting his room ready and everything put together for his classes that he will be taking. Others in the town have invited Chris and Alex to dinner and are willing to help out in any way they can. Says Alex, "It has made everything go very smoothly."