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A North Carolina teenager who damaged his spinal cord in a hood-surfing accident stood for the first time in nine months on June 29.

Footage by Beth Hodge captured the moment her 17-year-old son JJ stood up, with help from his rehab and therapy specialists at NextStep Raleigh.

JJ was initially treated at Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, before being moved to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where he received treatment and rehab for his injuries. He finally returned home in February, local media reported.

According to a Facebook post by his mom, he has now started neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES).

“They are concentrating on his core now, trying to strengthen it to allow him to do things like transfer himself to/from his chair and use a manual chair instead of only the big power chair. It’s a long and arduous process, but JJ says he is up for the challenge,” she wrote.

It was during his evaluation for NMES that JJ stood for the first time since the accident.

“It was awesome and the look on his face was absolutely priceless,” Beth said. Credit: Beth Hodge via Storyful