FLINT -- A Flint man is honored Sunday for helping people with disabilities, but his own story is quite remarkable.
NBC25 talked to Eric Thomas, a man who is paralyzed from the neck down after a drive-by shooting.
He hopes his story will encourage others like him to live a full life.
This was Flint resident Eric Thomas in the 1990's, a young hip hop artist who had just created his own record label.
Then, in 1997 his life turned upside down.
In front of this house in Lansing, Thomas was paralyzed from the neck down in a drive-by shooting.
“I'm not sure why someone would want to kill me or attempt to kill me, because I didn't have a fight with anybody, or had beef with anybody,” said Thomas was is an Accessibility Advocate.
Thomas says there was never an investigation and has forgiven his unknown attacker.
“Maybe they needed help, maybe they didn't have help, maybe they didn't have mentors, or father or mother figures, there are a lot of things, so you have to take all of that in to consideration,” said Thomas.
Thomas says his motivation to help others keeps him going.
Sunday his life as a quadriplegic was captured for a documentary for the D-MAN Foundation, a non-profit that helps people with disabilities.
Despite his injuries, Thomas continues his love for music by helping the D-MAN Foundation create a barrier-free, handicap accessible music therapy studio.
“Which would allow a person who can't even move their head, maybe just to move their eyes, to use technology to produce and record music,” said Thomas.
Thomas says no one should give up on their dreams, even if they take you down a path you never expected.
Thomas was honored for his work with the D-MAN Foundation at the Detroit Pistons game Sunday.
