By admin 
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — This graduation season, a Virginia Union University (VUU) graduate, paralyzed from the chest down, defied the odds by walking across the stage… again.
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Saturday’s ceremony was the second time Jaiden Picot crossed the VUU stage using a robotic exoskeleton. But this time, it was for his master’s degree in business, which he wants to use to help others with disabilities like his own.
“I am reaching for the stars, taking that next step,” Picot said, speaking with Nexstar’s WRIC ahead of the ceremony.
Picot has never let his life-changing injury dictate his future. In August 2024, he was hit by a truck while riding an e-scooter.
“It had left me with a C4 spinal injury. I had a crushed neck,” Picot said. “I was in the hospital for three or four months.”
It left him paralyzed from the chest down. But intensive rehab at Sheltering Arms Institute helped him gain his independence back.
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With the exoskeleton, which responds to Picot swaying, he made it all the way across the stage for the first time since his accident.
“Jaiden has a lot of motivation,” said Brittany McCormick, an exercise physiologist at Sheltering Arms who helped Jaiden walk on Saturday.
“Jaiden is one person that will come into Sheltering Arms without a negative attitude. He will never come in and say, I don’t feel like doing this today,” McCormick said.
Picot was able to complete his Bachelor’s degree on time in 2025 and immediately went to work on his graduate studies. This year, he earned his Executive MBA. He is working toward a career in real estate, where he wants to help others find accessible housing.
“I just want to help people more, like me, with disabilities. Because I know for myself its really hard to find accommodative and comfortable homes for myself,” Picot said. “So I just want to help a lot of people out there like me, like to find those accommodative homes where they can feel comfortable and feel very positive to live at.”
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