Robert Paylor was playing for a national rugby title with UC Berkeley in 2017 — when one illegal move changed everything.

"I close my eyes, grit my teeth, and I feel this God-awful crunch in my neck," Paylor recalled. "My instinctual reaction was to just get up."

But he knew he couldn't, as he was face down on the field with his chin in his chest. He was then carried off the field.

"All I wanted to do was give a thumbs-up because that's what people do right?" Paylor said.

At the hospital, he underwent various tests, such as an X-ray, MRI and CT scan.

"The doctor said, 'Robert, you will never walk again.' And the battle for my life really began at that point," Paylor said.

But that was a prognosis he refused to accept. 

"My initial thought when I heard those words: If there is a 1% chance that I will be able to move my body again, I will be in that one percent," Paylor told CBS News Sacramento.

Every day was a fight to survive. But step by step, tiny movements became victories.

"So, I would grab marbles, put them into jars. They would put down playing cards, and I would flip them over one by one. Was it frustrating? Of course. But this was the task at hand now. This is how I get better," Paylor said. 

Movement by movement, each exercise was bringing him closer to standing on his own two feet 

"I eventually walked out those hospital doors on April 13th, 2018. I got into my walker and did what doctors told me was impossible," Paylor said.

Three years after the injury, he reached another milestone, walking across the stage at UC Berkeley to receive his business degree. 

"I remember getting to the front of the line and hearing my name called: 'Robert Jeffery Paylor.' The crowd was going nuts!" Paylor recalled.

That moment marked the start of a new chapter. Turning his challenge into a mission and helping others overcome what paralyzes them. 

"I wouldn't be able to help people like this if I didn't break my neck," Paylor said.

He is now a published author and inspirational speaker. He married his wife, Carsen, in 2023, and they are expecting their child on Christmas Day.