After Aaron Gill badly broke his leg in a high school football scrimmage, his chances of playing again seemed slim.

After a year of battling a subsequent infection, it appeared the Fort Worth teen might never walk again.

But two years later, Aaron is walking. He wrestles and wants to run track in the spring. He won the lead in the school musical. He started at linebacker in the fall for Southwest Christian School.

Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

Cody McCasland (left) and Aaron Gill will run the final mile of the White Rock Marathon on Sunday.

And Sunday he plans to run one mile of the White Rock Marathon to raise money for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children - the place where doctors amputated his left leg.

"Amputation is such a scary word," said Lori Gill, Aaron’s mother. "I just pretty much thought that life as we knew it would be over."

But within weeks of Aaron's below-the-knee amputation, he was fitted with a prosthetic leg and started physical therapy. Within six months, he was playing sports again.

"Stuff that used to come naturally takes effort now, and that can be disheartening," Aaron said. "But I'm always going to keep working and get where I need to be."

Aaron said the staff at Scottish Rite focuses on possibilities rather than disabilities.

"For me, and for so many others, TSRHC means hope, strength and opportunity," he wrote in a marathon fundraising message. "They are the very bright light at the end of an otherwise very dark tunnel."

Scottish Rite specializes in pediatric orthopedics but also treats related neurological disorders and learning disabilities such as dyslexia. Treatment is free for Texas residents 18 and younger.

"I am not a fan of doctors or hospitals, but I love Scottish Rite," Ms. Gill said. "From the moment you step in the doors, you feel the warmth and the love. It’s such a caring atmosphere."

After his injury, Aaron underwent emergency surgery at a Fort Worth hospital to reset his leg with a steel plate and 10 screws. The infection set in soon after, damaging his ankle joint and causing an open wound that refused to heal.

He underwent several unsuccessful skin grafts before doctors tried using muscle and veins taken from his chest to heal the wound. When that procedure also failed, doctors suggested trying again with muscle from the other side of Aaron’s chest. They also wanted to fuse the bones in his ankle.

"It's at that point he said, 'You're not going to keep harvesting my body parts for something that won't work,'." Ms. Gill said.

"Did I really say that?" Aaron said with a grin. "Wow. That's a movie moment."

Aaron said he accepted that amputation was his best chance for an active life. He was referred to Scottish Rite, and on Aug. 24, 2005, three days before the one-year anniversary of his accident, doctors removed his lower left leg.

"I probably would have continued trying" to save the leg, Ms. Gill said. "It's probably the hardest decision I'd ever have to make, and I really didn’t have to make it."

Aaron transferred to Southwest Christian School for his junior year and joined the football team. But his prosthetic walking leg, which has a foot that wears a standard shoe, didn’t give him enough mobility.

In the spring, Aaron received a specialized running leg with a curved, carbon-fiber "foot" that doesn’t require a shoe. He told prosthetist John Stephenson that he wanted to wear it for football.

"Normally, that foot is designed for sprinting on a track," Mr. Stephenson said. "I told him, 'I don’t think it’s designed for that.' But he proved me wrong."

Mr. Stephenson and orthopedic technician Robert Carlile adapted the leg by adding football cleats from a pair of shoes donated by the Dallas Cowboys, which Deion Sanders delivered to Aaron at practice.

Southwest Christian football coach James Roller said the new leg affected Aaron’s play and outlook.

"The change was dramatic," he said. "It allowed him to be a lot more mobile. One piece of plastic utensil gave him the ability to succeed, a chance to contribute. It's amazing what hope can do for you."

Aaron, who previously played quarterback, became a starting linebacker for the Eagles and was named to an all-district team. He wants to attend Abilene Christian University next year and hopes to play football there.

"He's never looked back," Mr. Stephenson said. "When he puts his mind to it, he can do anything he wants. He makes it look so easy."

The White Rock Marathon started donating its proceeds to the hospital 10 years ago and last year gave $150,000. Runners also conduct personal fund-raising campaigns. Aaron had $825 in contributions Friday.

Junior race director Jaclynne "Jac" Bedrossian, a Scottish Rite patient from Frisco, has challenged fellow patients and the community to pledge $250,000.

The family of another Scottish Rite patient, 6-year-old Cody McCasland, has raised nearly $52,000 in three years, and Team Cody wants to collect $15,000 this year. Thirteen family members and friends will run in the full marathon, half marathon and relay.

"We've just decided as a family it's something we want to do to show our appreciation for the hospital," said Tina McCasland, Cody’s mother.

Cody, of Colleyville, was born with the rare birth defect sacral agenesis, which caused his legs to form without knees or shinbones. When he was 15 months old, doctors amputated his lower legs so he could use prostheses rather than a wheelchair.

Cody got running legs in March and in June won three gold medals at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Endeavor Games for athletes with disabilities. On Sunday, he will run the last half-mile of the marathon with Aaron and Team Cody’s final relay runner.

"It's not just helping the hospital; it's really affected Cody’s life," Mrs. McCasland said. "It's really helped him understand that side of philanthropy."

In an essay for a PTA contest, Cody wrote, "Talking with people about my prosthetics and why they cut off my legs helps so they learn about differences. … I am different but it is nothing to be scared of."

Though Aaron never wants to run a marathon - he’s more of a sprinter, he says - running a short distance in the White Rock Marathon is an easy way to help the hospital that gave him so much. Scottish Rite officials named him a patient champion for the race - one of 11 kids publicly representing the 180,000 treated at the hospital since 1921.

"Everyone has always been so supportive," Aaron said. "All the time in the hospital, the surgeries, being in a wheelchair, that was the hard part. Scottish Rite helped make my recovery the easy part."

Sponsor Aaron Gill and Cody McCasland by donating to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children at www.active.com/donate/tsrh07. Choose "Gill, Aaron" from the "Fundraising pages" menu or "Team Cody" from the "Team pages" menu.

Aaron will join the marathon near mile marker 25 on San Jacinto Street southwest of Harwood Street. He will start running when the Team Cody relay team runner arrives about 12:45 to 1 p.m. Cody will join them as they turn from Ross Avenue onto Houston Street.