University of Virginia freshman and Goochland High School graduate Adam Maguire will celebrate an unusual anniversary Feb. 2.

The date will mark one-year since having a brain tumor about the size of a small orange removed.

While he has recovered and shows no outward signs of what he went through, the tumor did cost him an appointment to the Naval Academy.

“When they called me about withdrawing the appointment, they said I had been medically disqualified because of the surgery,” Maguire said Jan. 13 while sitting in the lobby of the Goochland Family YMCA. “They said if I wanted to apply again in a couple of years, they’d consider an appointment then.”

For now, the Navy’s loss is UVA’s gain. Maguire has a 3.9 grade point average and says he would eventually like to be a civil engineer. He is also working on an invention for a national contest.

“The contest is called the ‘Ability One Challenge,’ and the objective is to design a device for disabled people that would help make them more employable,” he said. “I’m working on a tongue-tracker, and it resembles an orthodontic retainer. It would be used by people with spinal cord injuries who are paralyzed or people with similar injuries.”

The tongue-tracker has a sensor board in the part that fits into the roof of the mouth. By touching different places on the tracker with the tongue, a person can operate a computer, their wheelchair and other devices.

Maguire explained that people paralyzed from spinal cord injuries still have use of their tongue because of a direct nerve connection with the brain.

He will start working on a prototype when he returns to UVA for the spring semester.

Maguire said he is mentally all the way back from the surgery and close to being all the way back physically. His fondness for contact sports has caused others some concern.

“I was on the football team in high school and now I play rugby,” he said. “My neurologist and parents weren’t real excited about my playing. After the type of surgery I had, it takes about two years for the skull to be back to what’s considered full strength. Right now, I’m probably 95 percent.”.

Maguire said a big reason for why he recovered so quickly from the surgery was the support he received.

“They had an unbelievable event for me at school before the surgery, and it was so important because I went to the hospital with a positive attitude knowing all of those people cared,” he said. “Then I received bags and bags of cards while I was in the hospital.

“We moved to Goochland a little over four years ago from Boston. I have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world, but there is no place like Goochland and the people who live here. They’re the best.”