While football players all across America — from Pop Warner up through to the NFL — are kneeling in protest of the national anthem, South Carolina teen Wesley Baker stood up for America. Doctors were sure he would never stand again — possibly relegated to a permanent vegetative state.

In 2013, the high school football player was walking along the highway when he was hit by an 18-wheeler. Though he survived, miraculously, Baker lost a leg and sustained heavy brain trauma, among other injuries.

It was the first time he’s been able to stand since his accident. "It feels like a dream. I've asked God for three years... when his accident took place I said, 'God please let my son walk again and talk again,' and day by day, he's shown me miracles," his mother, Debra Phipps, told WKRC.

"Wesley, he's worked hard, he's lost his leg and he had a right to sit down, but now God is giving him the strength to stand up, and we all need to stand up for America," she said