CHARLTON, Mass. — Twenty-six years after Kyle Brodeur’s life was forever changed, he’s managed to live to the fullest despite the serious complications he’s endured since.

Brodeur was left paralyzed in 1997 at age 10 when an impaired driver hit his family’s minivan head on, killing his father Michael.

A new book called ‘If I Can Smile, I Can Live’, written with his mother Lisa, offers readers a glimpse into the perseverance he’s shown since the tragedy.

“When the crash first happened, Kyle did not want to get out of bed,” Lisa said. “He was in so much pain… I explained to him that we may have a different life, but we have to get up and go. So through doing that, once he started getting up and going, he was like, ‘Wow, I can handle it.'”

Brodeur has taken on life with a relentless positivity, fighting through pain to try things like snowmobiling, parasailing, and his favorite, going to races with his running partner Michael DiDonato pushing him along.

“The Boston Marathon is one of his favorites, and he’s also an Ironman,” Lisa said. “He loves to run the Disney princess race, and he actually just asked Mike to do that again. It’s changed Kyle’s life so much, it has given him a sport again, because before the crash he was so athletic and he did absolutely everything.”

And now, on top of all of those memories, Kyle can add being a published author to the list.

‘If I Can Smile, I Can Live’ was a collaborative effort, with Lisa asking Kyle a series of questions to help write the chapters. When each chapter was finished, she read it back to him, and he would approve or disapprove.

From fighting for his life to becoming a symbol of perseverance and giving presentations in classrooms and prisons, Kyle has spent these past 26 years refusing to give up — inspiring countless others in the process.

“Thirty-two surgeries, it's been never-ending being in hospitals, and now he's on the full oxygen,” Lisa said. “But we still are living and we will never give up. If you have it in your mind that you will never do anything, you won't. You’ve got to say, ‘I am going to do this, and I am going to find a way to do it,’ because happiness will not find you. You have to go find your happiness.”

Kyle’s book was released in May, and follows up Lisa’s previous book ‘A Mother’s Journey: Through Faith, Hope and Courage,’ released in 2013.