Everett’s story thrills fans at WGI

WATKINS GLEN — After his catastrophic injury in 2007, to see former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett walking is an inspiration.
But for some of the more than 100 fans who waited in line almost an hour to get Everett’s autograph, seeing him was more than inspirational. It was an honor and a thrill.

“I work in an emergency room and my wife is a nurse, who works with people who have had the type of injury Kevin had,” said Robert Alexander of Hornell. “It was something just to shake his hand. I’ve been a Bills fan forever, so this is really special for me. I know the whole story and I know his family has a lot of faith and they were behind him all the way through in the recovery process. I was thrilled to meet him.”

Everett, 26, was a third round draft choice of the Bills in 2005. In the opening game of the 2007 season, while making a tackle on the second-half kickoff, the 6-4, 235-pound Everett fractured and dislocated his cervical spine. It was an injury that, doctors said, threatened his life.

The young athlete from Port Arthur, Texas, who attended the University of Miami, suffered immediate paralysis from the neck down after the accident, but began to regain some movement within a couple of days. The prognosis improved, still, doctors said in the first week after the injury that he would probably not walk again.

When he began to regain movement in his hands and feet, doctors revised his prognosis to include being able to walk. Not quite a year later, he stood on pit road today as the grand marshal of the Zippo 200 and gave the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines."

“He’s amazing,” Steve Rand of Auburn said. Rand described himself as definitely not an avid NASCAR or Buffalo Bills fan. But Rand felt compelled to be the first in line at the WGI Pyramid to get his copy of “Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story” signed by Everett.

Now, every day presents and opportunity for Everett to advocate for people with spinal injuries. He says he doesn’t take anything for granted.

“It’s been a tough recovery — a lesson from God and a lot of work,” Everett said. “I still rehab three days a week, about three hours a day, and I’d say I’m somewhere around 60 percent. I’m working on endurance and trying to get stronger. But we’re trying to help people. We have a foundation and we’re doing some things together with the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis to raise money.”

Everett, who married in April, was accompanied his wife, Wiande, at WGI and he credited her with being the impetus behind the book.

“My wife is the reason for the book,” Everett said. Wiande was Everett’s fiancée at the time of the accident and she has supported him all along the road to recovery. “We thought it would be a good idea for people out there going through the same thing and need some inspiration. Just waking up every day and going to therapy seeing different people with injuries worse than mine. That’s one of the things that gave me the strength to keep trying to get better.”

(stargazette.com)