The road to recovery

On Sept. 9, 2007, time stood still as Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett collided with then-Denver Broncos' kickoff return man Domenik Hixon. Millions watched as Everett fell to the ground. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound professional athlete looked like a rag doll as his body lay on the artificial turf at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. The world was told the grim news that Everett may not live, and that he would certainly never walk again.

Terms such as "bleak" and "dismal" were used by Buffalo Bills orthopedic surgeon Andrew Cappuccino to describe the outlook on what would become of Everett's life with a cervical spine injury. People hoped and prayed for a miracle. Six months later, Kevin Everett has defied the odds, as he walks and lives his life as normal as possible after such an injury.

The story, a miracle to many, has been recorded and written by Sam Carchidi, a sportswriter and columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story is a story of spirit and courage; love and sadness; resiliency and recovery. It highlights the greatest moments in Everett's life, while also digging into the depths of his catastrophic injury.

Carchidi is no stranger to stories of athletes with spinal injuries. He is very close with Adam Taliaferro, a football player from Penn State who was injured in 2000. Carchidi co-wrote the book Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which was the only credential needed to get on board "Team Kevin." Carchidi recently spoke with The Spectrum about Everett and the book.

"I am on the Board of Directors at the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, where we raise money for athletes who have spinal injuries," Carchidi said. "He was paralyzed as a freshman, and was told he would never recover, and he made a miraculous recovery. Kevin Everett's agent was familiar with the story, and called and ask if I'd be interested in doing the book on Kevin."

While medical advances have made great progress since Taliaferro's injury, he and Everett both share similar traits in the recovery process.

"Kevin's recovery was a lot better than Adam's," Carchidi said. "Adam had a C5 injury, and his recovery was amazing as well, but he still has limitations. He limps while he walks and he can't open his right hand all the way. He now eats with the left hand, and he can never run. It remains to be seen if Kevin Everett can ever run."

While Taliaferro lacks the ability to fully move his hands, Everett lacks the ability to feel with his hands.

"His hands are numb and he has no feeling in his hands and most of his fingers," Carchidi said. "When I was with him, he cut his finger and didn't know he did it until he pulled it away and blood was all over him. He had a lot of nerve damage from the paralysis."

Another astonishing fact in the recovery of Everett is how fast he was able to walk. While it took Everett a little over three months to take his first steps, it took Taliaferro seven years before he regained that ability.

"I was walking around a mall in Houston with Kevin around Christmas for about an hour and I was amazed at the whole time on his walking ability," Carchidi said. "I didn't have to slow down once while I was with him, and I thought I would have to."

Throughout Everett's rehabilitation period, there were highs, as well as lows. While Everett was thankful to be alive, he was severely depressed and, according to Dr. Kevin Gibbons, "tried to die" a few times.

"His first couple weeks, he was withdrawn in rehab," Carchidi said. "He had the shades pulled down and the light off in his room. After two or three weeks later, he had the lights on and he'd interact with people. He'd also have the shades up letting light in. At that point, he was very pleasant and upbeat."

To Carchidi, a main factor in the recovery process besides the medical advances, such as induced hypothermia or the spinal surgery itself, was the support from his mother, "Miss Patricia," and his fianc?(c)e, Wiande Moore. The two pushed him through the barriers that held him from recovering.

"To me, the Kevin-Wiande relationship was a big part of the story," Carchidi said. "She was by his side all the time with Miss Patricia. It just amazed me that Kevin came from a run-down area in Texas while Wiande came from West Africa, and she was in the middle of a civil war in Liberia. It was just amazing that two people from such different backgrounds found each other and it gave a story that, I think, almost nobody knew about."

In Standing Tall, Carchidi recounts an emotional moment between Everett and Moore just weeks after the injury. While still in the hospital, Everett let Moore know how much she really meant to him by proposing to her.

Another major factor in Kevin Everett's recovery came in the form of support from Bills fans, the Western New York community, and many people across the world. Cards and flowers were spread out all over the room, including an arrangement of yellow tulips from actress Whoopi Goldberg.

"I think it helped him a great deal," Carchidi said. "You could see how much he was loved. Miss Patricia and Wiande had mixed emotions to leave Buffalo because they were overwhelmed with the love and support they received at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital. Mentally, he saw how much love and support was out there and he wasn't just recovering for himself, but he was recovering for the entire world."

Nonetheless, Carchidi feels that there were many other reasons why Everett has had an exemplary recovery, including the hypothermic process that has divided the medical community. By inducing hypothermia into a spinal injury patient, it slows the patient's metabolism, allowing cells to survive longer when deprived of oxygen.

"I think the hypothermic process had something to do with his recovery," Carchidi said. "I spoke to one doctor and he said that Kevin's first movements occurred when his body temperature was normal, and that the hypothermia didn't take effect yet. He has limited problems, so I think hypothermia played a big role in his recovery. It's exciting too, because of the medical advances. In Miami, they are changing protocol, and they are going to have ambulances equipped with saline solution. Hopefully, this will help a lot of people down the road recover from paralysis."

Everett returned to Buffalo for the first time on Dec. 23 for the Bills final home game against the New York Giants. While he missed his teammates and the stadium he calls home, it was still a very emotional experience.

"It was very emotional, because Everett was proud he could walk and he wanted to show everyone," Carchidi said. "He even spoke to Hixon for five minutes, who ironically enough became a New York Giant in the middle of the season. I feel bad for Hixon because he feels responsible for Kevin's injury, even though it was a freak accident. Hixon talked to his parents and his pastor about it, and they all agreed it was simply an accident. The injury was not his fault at all, and Kevin has no ill will towards him. It's safe to say that Kevin is a Domenik Hixon fan and Hixon is a Kevin Everett fan, which is really nice."

As it has been over half a year since the injury occurred, Everett has beaten the odds and has taken the next step in his road to recovery. Many people, like Bills tight end and Everett's best friend Robert Royal, feel that Everett is happier now than he was before.

"The thing I think with Kevin is that he is in peace with his life," Carchidi said. "He's very content. I can't speak for Kevin, but Robert Royal is one of his closest friends. All I know is that Kevin now is very true of himself. He will never play football again, he might never be able to run again, but he's happy with his self and happy with his life and where he is going. He's talked about coaching. He's a people person and is great with kids, but he can't commit to anything right now."

In the book, Carchidi tells of how the Bills were named for legendary Indian scout William "Wild Bill" Cody, who helped trail blaze the American Frontier. It is fitting that Kevin Everett is a Buffalo Bill, because he is now a trailblazer in the community as a miracle patient who defied the odds and survived what many couldn't live through. He's not an underdog - not anymore.