MADELIA — After a long stay at North Memorial Hospital following a swimming accident, Logan Anderson is on the move to Nebraska to begin rehabilitation work.

Anderson was injured in a swimming accident on August 19 at Lake Hanska. According to his GoFundMe page, Anderson suffered head and neck injuries and was air-lifted to North Memorial Hospital in the Robbinsdale. He had surgery on August 20th. The doctors were able to fuse his C5 vertebrae fracture. He suffered some paralysis but now he has feeling in his legs and he can move his left arm and grasp with his left hand, according to his former basketball coach Jeff VanHee.

On Thursday, Anderson was able to see family and friends for the first time since the accident. He left Robbinsdale by ambulance on Thursday morning and arrived in Madelia at about 11:30 a.m. There, he was greeted by family members he hasn’t seen since the accident and friends, classmates, and people from all over the community who wanted to show support for the 19-year old.

The Madelia Police Department, Fire Department and Madelia Hospital Ambulance Service escorted Anderson by the high school, elementary school and then down main street before heading out of town. VanHee said that Anderson was in town for about an hour.

“There was a lot of people there, he hasn’t seen anybody other than his sister and his mom since the accident happened,” VanHee said. “Obviously his dad and two younger brothers were there and just a lot of people from town, friends. They took him out of the ambulance and let him talk to people, so it was really cool.”

VanHee was unable to be in Madelia on Thursday morning, but his wife Michelle video streamed the event for Jeff. He was able to talk to Anderson and VanHee said it was pretty emotional for him and Anderson.

“He was really excited about coming through and really happy to see everybody,” VanHee said. “There were a lot of tears, tears of happiness to see him. You hear about this and people that know him can’t see him, a wave of emotion comes over you and tears flow for everybody involved.”

Anderson will be at the Madonna Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. There, he will undergo a three-month rehabilitation process.

Those interested in donating towards Anderson’s medical bills can search him on GoFundMe.com.