A spinal injury ended his career. Now he has a degree from U of T

When a 2018 diving accident left Beau Hayward an incomplete quadriplegic, the 28-year-old ironworker's life was upended.

"My life before was super physical, playing sports and doing rebar," he told CBC News in an interview this week. "After my accident, you know, everything changed."

The first year and a half involved lots of physical therapy and thoughts about the future. Hayward was able to recover some of his upper body function, but he was never going to go back to physical labour.

"This injury kind of takes everything from you," he said.

After some thought, he said he decided to pursue an interest he'd always had in history.

Now, at 34, Hayward is receiving his honours degree in history and archaeology from the University of Toronto.

Hayward will cross the convocation stage on Wednesday, cheered on by his parents, his partner and his daughter.

In 2018, Hayward was at a cottage with friends in Sudbury, when he dove into a lake and hit the bottom. The impact cracked multiple vertebrae in his spine and knocked him out.

He nearly drowned, but his friends found him face down in the water and revived him.

Hayward was taken to the hospital where he learned his legs were paralyzed and he'd lost the use of parts of his upper body. 

The past five years at school, he said, taught him how to live again. Going to class got him out and socializing, he said, exercising as he could and setting goals for a new career.

"School has been so tightly intertwined with that recovery process and finding independence," he said.

But it took a lot of help, he said.

Unable to physically write or study in the field, he said his instructors and administrators helped accommodate him in his studies. Instead of fieldwork, professors tailored his studies to the lab. Instead of typing on a laptop, administrators helped him get access to dictation software.