Update On St. Rose Of Belmar Student In Horrible Lifeguard Mishap

BELMAR, NJ — When Jessica Jarmer sees the outpouring of love for her son — as well his progress — it can only make her feel good.

It's been months since her son, Sam, a 16-year-old junior at St. Rose High School of Belmar, suffered a serious spinal injury while working at his lifeguarding job at Ocean Grove. Now he's showing progress, showing an increasing ability to move his extremities.

His family shared it in an Asbury Park Press story:

"The more people we can get praying and sending good vibes, the better," Jessica told Patch during the summer.

The support has been there since the beginning.

Sam dove into a wave and somehow hit a sandbar that he didn't know was there. He was saved by another lifeguard.

Since then, it's been months of rehabilitation, his mother said, but it's also been months of progress as feeling has returned to much of his body.

They go so far as to celebrate every little movement — even if it's the pinky toe on his foot.

Two days after the accident, more than 450 members of St. Rose Parish in Belmar, its two school communities, and neighboring St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Bradley Beach, packed the church pews for a Mass of Healing, she said.

His fellow lifeguards did a cheer for him in a video, yelling the name that his been applied to social media groups set up to provide his family boost: Samvincible.

Celebrities have been there, too. Keith Olbermann of ESPN provided a video of support.

Sam Lofquist from the Sibir Novosibirsk Hockey team out of the Czech Republic reached out after hearing Sam’s story. He said: "The whole team is rooting for you and will be looking for updates on your page!"

Perhaps it's no wonder that Sam has shown improvement. Months ago, Jessica watched as the doctors asked Sam "to shrug his shoulders."

"I didn’t see much movement. They would look at me and smile and say they felt a little something. I held on to that with such hope," he said.

Now she's watching him do much more.

"That is a miracle," she said. "Still no movement in his legs and limited hand mobility, but I know that’s going to come."

“I can’t even tell you, the amount of energy we have coming at this kid,” Jessica told The Asbury Park Press. “It has been awesome.”

His spinal cord injury was classified as "incomplete," and he's come a long way since surgery, when he felt slight movement in his arms and shoulders.

He spends four hours each day in physical therapy and occupational therapy, his mother said. He now can use his arms and move his stomach and back muscles. He can also move the tips of his thumbs and the other four fingers, but he still can't grip.

He has slowly regained movement in the lower part of the body; but on Jessica's birthday, she said, there was a breakthrough: He wiggled his right pinky toe, which brought tears to her eyes.

“He hasn’t cried once,” she told The Press. “He hasn’t said, ‘Why me?’ once. Every time I cry he’s like, ‘Knock it off.’"

Jessica said a top neurosurgeon has obviously helped, too. But in this saga, she said, "God put everyone in their place,” she said.

"Thank you for the continued love and support. The prayers are working," Jessica said. "Please keep them coming."