When you hear about non-life-threatening injuries, you may not realize just how life altering they can be. Adam Dailey, 25, learned that first hand. As our Katie Gibas reports, even though his recovery has progressed well, his life is still forever changed.

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BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. -- It started out like any other day at the ski hill, but December 28th 2010 forever changed Adam Dailey's life.

"Going down the last run of the night and took my eyes off the path for maybe a split second and ended up running into a ski lift pole. And from there, I was in and out of consciousness for quite a while," said Adam Dailey, a Baldwinsville resident.

Upon awakening at the hospital, the diagnosis was grim.

"When the doctor comes in and tells you, you're not going to be able to walk again, you think about all the things you wish you had done. I feel like my time was cut short. But I also believe I will be back up and moving around. And now I have a list of things I want to accomplish when I do get back up," said Dailey.

Rich Dailey, Adam's father, added, "I guess I wasn't accepting what I heard. And I didn't want to give up hope that he would ever walk again, move again, function again as he did before. So I let it go. I didn't really, and I still don't, have that feeling that it's as bad as it is."

It's been a long road to recovery for Adam. After two months in the hospital, he began a rigorous physical therapy plan.

While December 28th, 2010 will live in infamy, Adam will always remember Wednesday, February 15, 2012 as another day that changed his life. After more than a year, he stood for the first time and with the help of a brace and physical therapists, he took his first steps.

"It was a step and he took three and then he got in a walker and took more. Quite a miracle, I think and the next step in his recovery, a miracle I think," said Rich Dailey.

Adam Dailey added, "It felt good to be taller than everyone again. It's been a while since I've been on my feet like that, so it was a big day."

Sara Bullock, one of Adam's physical therapists at Upstate University Hospital, said, "You get to develop relationships with your patients and kind of go through their struggles and their successes with them, so when Adam stood for the first time with his braces, we were all getting goose bumps."

Everyone who knows Adam says it's his positive attitude that's gotten him to where he is today.

"That attitude is good and it makes me feel better and it makes me feel easier that I can now accept some of the things he's accepting and live right for today. I have a lot of faith and a lot of hope and a lot of belief that he'll walk and move and do things as before," said Rich Dailey.

Adam says he has a lot he wants to accomplish and he plans to do it all on his feet.

Dailey will be taking his recovery to the next level by teaming up with Project Walk in Florida. He will spend six weeks in intensive physical therapy to help restart his nervous system, which he says will allow him to be mobile on his feet despite his paralysis.

"I'm not willing to accept the fact that I'm stranded in a chair for the rest of my life. I want to make the sacrifices and do whatever is necessary to prove to other that it can be done and it will be done," said Adam Dailey.