Donnovan at the age of 13  suffered a severe spinal injury during a Pop Warner football game. He fractured his spine in November during the Midget Orange Bowl championship game. He was the running back for the Lakewood Lancers. Witnesses say Hill dropped to the ground after hitting his head while trying to block a play. After the injury, doctors predicted Hill might never walk again. Hill has made incredible progress in two months — he was moving his arms Wednesday during a KTLA interview in the hospital. “I’m moving my arms and feeling a little sensation in my legs,” he said. Now he’s determined to get back on his feet in 2012. Hill’s mother, Crystal Dixon, believes that the boy’s attitude and fighting spirit will help pull him through and make him stronger as he moves forward in life. Dixon took a leave of absence from her job to help her son with his recovery. She said his fifth vertebrae was crushed when he crashed into the other football player on the field. But, she said she wasn’t discouraged when doctors said he might be paralyzed from the neck down. “No one knows but God and Donnovan,” Dixon said. “It’s up to Donnovan. I tell him every day.”  [KTLA.com]

Watch Donnovan’s story on ESPN.com