Brooke Hornbeck remembers the day doctors finally gave her an explanation for her son’s delayed development. Two year old Boomer had schizencephaly, a rare disorder where abnormal clefts form in the brain, and cerebral palsy, a neurological impairment which affects balance and mobility.
The prognosis wasn’t good. His life expectancy was between three to five years old, and he would be unable to eat, sit, or walk independently. Various homes and services could help give Boomer the care he needed. But Brooke knew the bleak future would not be their reality.
“I could tell by his eyes that he understood me and he understood things,” she said. “I just decided in my mind I wouldn’t believe it.”
She began to put Boomer’s bottle just beyond his grasp. Maybe, she thought, he would be hungry enough to try to reach for it. When he did, she knew her son would do more than what the various scans and tests were projecting. “I was like, ‘That’s it. I just have to find a way to keep pushing him…. without listening to what someone says is going to happen based on an MRI,’” Brooke recalls.
The real indication of Boomer’s resilience came after his first surgery. Despite being in unbearable pain, he chose to focus on the work. Resting was not an answer: that was time that could be used to get stronger.
That mindset got the attention of then-Florida head coach Urban Meyer. The pair met at a charity event, and Boomer, a die-hard Gators fan, asked Meyer to tell Tim Tebow he said hello.
Meyer’s response?
“Tell him yourself.”
He invited Brooke and Boomer out to a game the following season. At the time, Boomer relied on a wheelchair for mobility, but the five-year-old made a promise before they parted ways. “Coach, next time I see you, you’re going to see me walk,” he said.
Some would have declared the feat impossible. Though he could stand, Boomer had never taken a step. Rather than dwell on odds and likelihoods, Boomer repeated what he had done in the hospital: He went to work.
Four months later, on a warm September afternoon, Tim Tebow wheeled Boomer around the Swamp. He hadn’t seen Meyer yet; the coach was busy preparing for that day’s matchup against Charleston Southern. When they spotted him on the sidelines, they began making their way that direction.
Five feet of grass remained between them when Tebow stopped. Boomer stood, and with Tebow and his mom looking on, walked up to Coach Meyer.
For Brooke, the moment was surreal. “A part of me wanted to throw my arms around Urban or Timmy and say thank you,” she says. “There was no way to say how much I appreciated what they didn’t even know they’ve done for him.”
In the thirteen years since that day, Boomer has undergone 22 more surgeries. These days, he spends much of his time in the gym working to achieve a new goal.
“My vision is walking perfect,” says Boomer. “[That vision] drives me to do everything else… that’s the reason I keep going.”
When he’s not working out, he’s often telling others about his vision at public speaking engagements. The opportunity to encourage others is what makes living with cerebral palsy so special. “I look at [cerebral palsy] as a blessing,” he says. “It’s mentally made [me] who [I am].”
Boomer’s resilience and dedication has carried over to other areas of his life. He’ll be a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast in the fall, where he plans to earn a degree in sports management. He already knows what he wants to do after graduation. “I love sports, I love helping people— combine them… and you get a sports agent,” he says.
Boomer may not be a sports agent yet, but he’s already making a difference in the lives of those around him. Brooke says his unwavering selflessness has made her realize what truly matters. She says, “He’s taught me that taking the time to lift up those around you… is what’s important in life.”
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