Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand was surprised on Wednesday by being honored at Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison.

The spinal cord treatment room at the center has now been named in honor of LeGrand.

“Being in that room, a lot of thoughts do go through your mind,” LeGrand says. “And when you’re on the other side of it, trying to get better, you don’t know where life is going to take you.”

LeGrande is a former defensive tackle for Rutgers. He suffered a life-changing injury in 2010 and became paralyzed. He has been using his injury as a life lesson for himself and others ever since.

“They’re going to see your name there and they’re going to see what you’ve done since your spinal cord injury and it's going to give them great inspiration,” says Rutgers Football coach Greg Schiano.

The idea came when Schiano and his wife Christy donated $250,000 to the facility in honor of LeGrand.

Doctors say that LeGrand’s story will soon resemble hope for others whose lives have been altered by spinal cord injuries.

“That’s what I’m here for, each and every day. What you see is what you get. I wake up with a smile on my face because I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of this injury,” LeGrand says.