BELLS, TX-- Steven Jones shared some laughs with friends Thursday night, but four years ago a terrible gun accident left him fighting for his life.

Steven's mother, Elaine Jones, said, "That September night, we were telling him good-bye, we were told to tell him good-bye."

Jones was fourteen-years-old when he was shot in the skull while looking at guns with a friend.

He says while recovery from the accident was tough, he never gave up.

"My whole life, my whole personality has been developed around being persistent. I decided that if something was going to be done, that i'd have to finish it with persistence," Jones, said.

Jones family and friends gathered Thursday night to watch him run the 100 meter dash at a track meet.

It's an event he says helped him get through some of the most challenging times in his young life.

"We used this and we talked about running that last leg, and running as hard as you can," Elaine Jones, said. "Even when it's burning you don't quit. That's one thing that we absolutely believe in is that you don't quit, you give everything that you can. I have to say that, everyone that we've come in contact with, thats the most amazing thing out of all of this."

Jones raced in front of a screaming stadium of fans, along with help from his coach and teacher.

Jones wasn't competing against anyone, his battle to make it to the track was victory enough.

"The fact that I'm running period you know, it's a matter of the fact that I can do it, and I'm going to do it and nobody is going to stop me because that's who I am," Jones, said.

Jones high school principal says his courage has been an inspiration to his classmates over the past four years.

"He's a brave young man, and I can't say enough good things about him," Will Steger said, before the event.

His mother says she felt like the accident that nearly ended Steven's life was like a nightmare, but after witnessing his recovery she says she now sees things in a different light.

"We have lived in a world of a miracle and that's the only way I can explain it."