NEW LONDON, Wis. (WFRV) – A traumatic lawnmower injury couldn’t stop Brandon Rudie from persevering and accomplishing amazing things.
On Wednesday night, he walked the stage at New London High School, graduating with his classmates. His parents said it was very emotional seeing him graduate, given all he’s been through during his life.
“There are no words,” said Brandon’s father, Scott. “He never stops amazing me. His resilience and will to succeed.”
When Brandon was two years old, his parents said he was riding in a cart behind a lawnmower. They said he accidentally fell off, landing underneath the blade of the mower. He suffered major injuries to the left side of his face that required 31 surgeries across 10 years.
Brandon said he doesn’t have any recollection of the accident.
“Every time he bounced back, no problem,” Scott said. “It was like this kid is something else, I couldn’t believe it. It is very humbling as a parent to see your child so strong. Perseverance, he gives it new meaning.”
When Brandon was 13, his parents said they were surprised when he approached them wanting to start his own business. After a trial period when he tested things out and showed he could handle the workload, he launched his own lawn care, landscaping, and snow removal business.
He named it ‘Brandon and Scott Services LLC.’
“Well, I knew I wanted to make some money and that I didn’t want to work a typical nine-to-five,” Brandon told Local 5 News. “I wanted to do something I was good at. I used to cut the lawn back in Dale (when his family used to live there), so I decided to start cutting people’s lawns.”
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Brandon has turned the machine that caused him so much pain as a young child into something that has helped him build his career. He said he looks forward to the days after graduation when he can focus solely on his business instead of balancing that with homework and school
Brandon continues to accomplish big things, demonstrating the power of resilience.
“You got to be able to persevere; if you give up, the world doesn’t meet you halfway,” he told Local 5 News. “You’re going to have your good times and your bad times, and when you have the bad times you got to keep going.”
“It’s going to be emotional (seeing him cross the stage at graduation) because like I said, we could have lost him that evening when he got hurt,” Scott told Local 5 News.
