COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater Early Bird Exchange Club is sharing the saga of a remarkable young man from Michigan who has received nationwide attention for his bravery and resilience.
C.J. Miller of Detroit is the recipient of the 2017 National A.C.E. of the Year Award presented by the Exchange Club. Miller was the Michigan winner of the Accepting the Challenge of Excellence, or A.C.E. award. He graduated from University Prep High School this spring with a 3.5 GPA, overcoming horrific trauma, abuse, and isolation at the hands of his birth mother and her boyfriend.
After five years of being locked in a dark attic, often duct taped to a chair, being fed once a day and only given one cup of water a day, and having his life threatened, C.J. was rescued from the home where he was being held. He was reunited with his father, whom he hadn’t seen in 11 years, and diagnosed with ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and PTSD. His captors were each sentenced to 25 years in prison.
C.J. has thrived in the past three years, closing a six-year academic gap. When he was reintroduced to school, as a freshman with a 3rd grade education, C.J. was barely able to sit in the classroom for half a day; upon graduation, C.J. was independently completing projects and assignments. His future plans are centered on making the community, and world, a better place to live by helping to build a residential facility similar to the one that assisted him when he was rescued.
