VIDEO: Guy Who Had Massive Stroke Climbs the Rocky Steps

This, ladies and gentlemen, is your official reason to stop griping about the Rocky statue and all the cliché that usually comes with it. Joshua Crompton, the nighttime assignment editor at CBS 3, posted a video to YouTube on Friday that shows him climbing the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In April, Crompton suffered a massive stroke at the age of 31 and has been rehabbing ever since. Two months into rehab, he decided to tackle the steps with the help of his physical therapist. He recounted the milestone (and the rest of his story) on Stroke.org back in August.

With a can in one hand and my physical therapist on my arm I start the trek up the most famous steps in Philadelphia.  As tourists run past me humming the the theme song from the movie I push forward one step at a time, tired and wanting to quit I channel the spirit of the fictional boxer from South Philly and keep slowly climbing the stairs, before I knew it I am at the top and my physical therapist and I stand in the spot where Rocky Balboa stood as I look down on the city of brotherly love; the reality of the situation hits me like a ton of brinks….2 months ago I was hours away from dying and was paralyzed…I just walked up the art museum steps! [sic]

He says that he goes back and climbs the steps at least once a week. Crompton’s treks to the top of the steps are certainly going to make us think twice about rolling our eyes the next time we overhear a bellowing, “Adrian!” As cliché as it seems sometimes, it’s incredible that a 36-year-old movie about a fictional boxer can still inspire this kind of determination.