Rio Rancho student walks at graduation after 2018 shooting

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — 21-year-old Aneas Price graduated Tuesday — part of the Rio Rancho Class of 2023. He wants people to understand why he’s calling this day one of the most important days of his entire life.

“We thought he wasn’t going to make it,” said Janimleigh Mcintosh, his mother. “He came through. He pulled through.”

She thought it might never be possible.

“It was rough in the beginning, he had a scholarship for football and stuff and… well he lost that because of what happened,” she said.

Price was shot twice in 2018 — once in the arm, and once in the head. He was caught in the crossfire of teenage gang retaliation, according to police.

“I really appreciate my mom ’cause she was always there,” Price said. “She right there, always.”

After the shooting, he was in a coma for weeks. Once he came out of that, he had to relearn how to walk and talk. He also had to learn how to do everything with his optical nerve severed.

“I couldn’t see nothing at all,” Price said.

He spent two years at the Albuquerque School for the Blind before heading to Rio Rancho High School.

Five years later, he walked across the stage — showing everyone, including his mom, what’s possible.

“Every day waking up is just like another day to be blessed,” Price said.

Price is already taking classes at CNM and says he wants to go to ASU and has an interest in aerospace engineering and music.