Don’t stop. Step.

Tom Smith won’t be defined by tragedy

He was a senior in high school, a blue-chip hockey recruit when he ran his first Boston Marathon in 2008.

Tom Smith could never have imagined the events that will lead him back to Hopkinton in two weeks.

The 10-year anniversary is just part of the reason why Smith’s return to Boston this year is so significant. It’s a journey that began shortly after he ran that marathon. Two separate freak accidents while playing hockey paralyzed him, then a car accident confined him to a wheelchair for three years.

Smith was told he’d never be able to walk again, but fought back. Using two lofstrand canes to assist him, Smith is planning to walk the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston for Journey Forward, an organization that aims to improve the lives of those with spinal cord and paralyzing injuries.

“For me, this is more than just a race,” Smith said. “This is an event that’s significant on so many levels, and I’m blessed enough to be able to do it.”

Smith, a Swampscott native, was a promising hockey prospect after graduating from the Pingree School, earning interest from Division 1 and 3 schools.

Then, everything changed in August 2008. Playing for the Boston Bulldogs in the last game of the Hockey Night in Boston tournament, Smith was skating down an opposing player who was coming in on the goalie. Smith caught up to him at the last second, but at that moment, the goalie came out to poke check the puck and the three met.

“To avoid the collision, I tried to jump over them, and as they were falling, my skates hit their helmet,” Smith said. “That’s the last thing I remember.”

Smith woke up in the hospital with his mom by his side. He remembers not being able to squeeze her hand as the first sign something was wrong.

He was paralyzed from his neck down, but his paralysis was rare in that he could stand after about two weeks. However, with some of his muscles continuously contracted, he couldn’t really walk.

Smith was accepted into the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, an aggressive rehabilitation program, and made “a million in one recovery.” Right before that Christmas, he was walking at about 80 percent, and he went home for the holidays.

By March, his progress improved to the point where his doctors were suggesting he could play hockey again. Smith entertained it, but he wanted to make sure he was no more susceptible than the average person to get hurt again.

In May, he got that clearance, and he was back skating with the Bulldogs by July. In August, he tested in the top three in his bracket in a number of categories, including being the strongest and fastest. Schools were starting to get interested again.

But then lightning struck twice. On Oct. 1, 2009, six games into the new season, Smith was skating around the net during a practice and got tangled up with one of his teammates.

“It was just the way we fell,” Smith said. “He went into the boards feet first and I went into the boards head-first, and as soon as I hit the boards, I knew I was paralyzed.”

While he was being airlifted to Boston Medical Center, Smith regretted his decision to return to hockey. But soon he learned this was a completely different type of paralysis. The first one was an injury to the cervical vertebrae, and this one was the thoracic vertebrae.

“They said I had a better chance of winning the lottery five times in a row than having two paralyzing accidents totally unrelated,” Smith said.

Soon, Smith was back on the road to recovery again. By Christmas, he was standing using a walker. But then, Smith had another accident.

Smith’s dad was driving him to therapy on Jan. 10, 2010, when they were stopped at a red light at Bell Circle in Revere.

“The next thing you know, I hit the windshield,” Smith said.

They had been hit from behind by a distracted driver, Smith said. They were both rushed to the hospital. Smith reinjured his thoracic vertebrae and was in a wheelchair for those three years.

He fought back, again. He’s standing, again. Smith wanted to use his story to make a difference. He started the Thomas E. Smith Foundation in 2009 in an effort to help those affected by paralysis, and he connected with Journey Forward in 2013.

Walking Boston this year, to him, is a lot about bringing as much attention to the work Journey Forward is doing as he can.

“They are the most comprehensive, aggressive, rehabilitation program for paralysis in New England, period,” Smith said. “It’s an organization and a facility that’s based on tangible evidence, so evidence you can see and people getting better . ...

“The work they do down there needs more attention, they need more money to get better equipment and stuff like that, and that’s why I’m doing this.”

Smith’s training has been different than anyone else who’s participating in the Boston Marathon, of course. It includes stationary bikes and anti-gravity treadmills. When he walks, he uses those two lofstrand canes, and he says his left leg will carry him the 26.2 miles on Marathon Monday.

He’s doing it all for a bigger purpose.

“I hope that people understand what can be done with a vision, what can be done with hard work and determination, that you should never let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do,” Smith said. “Because I was told I would never be able to do anything physically with my legs, and now I’m going to be doing the Boston Marathon, and I will be completing the Boston Marathon.”

‘They said I had a better chance of winning the lottery five times in a row than having two paralyzing accidents totally unrelated.’

— TOM SMITH, who plans to walk this year’s Boston Marathon