Downtown Texas Children’s Hospital workers discharged Junior Juan Moreira in a neck brace Saturday night following a head-to-head collision during a football scrimmage that morning, compressing and fracturing his spine. Moreira will return to school Tuesday.

“God knows why this happened and I am staying positive thank you for the prayers,” Moreira wrote Friday on his Instagram.

Moreira, as an offensive lineman, trains to handle collisions. However, the impact temporarily paralyzed him face down in the turf.

“I was like, ‘It’s a normal hit, get up big boy,’ but I was pressing trying to get up but I couldn’t,” Moreira said. “I froze, I can’t explain it. I had a panic attack because I got scared. I know these injuries can end more seriously.”

Senior Jhorany Cornejo was the first to recognize the situation’s severity and approached Moreira, adding that two other teammates faced season-ending injuries just last season.

“I could hear him crying in agony,” Cornejo said. “I thought that it could be a neck or spinal injury which could cause permanent paralysis if the injury was serious enough. All I could do was pray he was alright and go around comforting my teams that were distraught with what happened.”

Trainers called EMS who transported Moreira to Texas Children’s Pediatrics The Woodlands. Doctors, suspecting a spine fracture, then transferred Moreira to Downtown Texas Children’s Hospital for specialist analysis the following day.

Specialists ordered Moreira to stay in a neck brace for two weeks and will take four to ten weeks for recovery. Moreira’s unsure of returning football turns to God for guidance in the mean time.

“I’m staying positive all thanks to God,” Moreira said. “God is the only reason I’m still walking and being able to be happy. It’s God’s plan so I’m not worried about it.”