Almost immediately after Taav Kuperman, 17, was wheeled into the Agoura High gymnasium Thursday evening, he received a round of applause from fellow graduates, followed by hugs and well wishes.
"It's a miracle that he's here," said one faculty member.
Only three weeks prior, Kuperman had been in a serious car accident following grad night.
"I was on my way home, and I fell asleep at the wheel," Kuperman said.
In the accident in which his car flipped over and crashed into a brick wall, Kuperman spent a week in a coma. He broke his leg, fractured his pelvis and still has blood clots in his spine and brain, he said.
"I feel great," he said shortly before the graduation ceremony began. "I'm so happy I'm alive and that I made it here."
Taav's mother, Malli, expressed her joy at being able to watch her son attend the festivities.
"We didn't think he would make it," she said. "We're just so thankful he's alive."
In an early entry on Facebook, Kuperman wrote as warning to friends and familly:
Don't drive tired... It's just as bad as driving drunk. Take if from someone who almost died from it.
Kuperman said he still has a long recovery ahead and faces six hours a day of physical therapy. He's not sure yet if he will be attending college.
On his Facebook page Thursday night, Kuperman wrote:
I am so proud of myself and everyone who was at graduation. I went through hell to roll myself into graduation, but it's a memory I will never forget. Mazal Tov everyone. May everyone's life only be the best.
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