Former Bills Player Everett On Amazing Recovery

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Former Buffalo Bills player Kevin Everett will never play football again. The fact that he's able to even walk is nothing short of a miracle. Thanks in part to cutting edge medical technology, he's made an amazing recovery.

CBS 2's Megan Mawicke reports Everett is in Chicago this week sharing his story.

"Doctors told me I had very little chance of walking again," Everett said. "I stayed positive through the whole thing."

In the Bills' 2007 season opener, Everett suffered a life-threatening spinal cord injury while making a tackle. Everett's helmet collided violently with Domenik Hixon's shoulder.

"I went down on a tackle, kickoff coverage, the tackle came wide open. I fell to the turf and I just couldn't move anything at all. I was conscious. I knew I was paralyzed after he hit," he said.

He credits his recovery to a controversial cooling therapy where doctor' lowered his body temperature to decrease swelling.

"They cooled my body from inside the out," Everett explained. "I'm very thankful they used the treatment on because I do believe it played a major part in my recovery."

Everett knows he won't be 100 percent again and says football is hard to watch, but it won't stop him from living his life to the fullest.

"You have to live yourself right everyday, you just never know," he said. "I came close to death and you never know when your time is coming."

(cbs2chicago.com)