The following article appeared in today's Dallas Morning News regarding Corey Fulbright, the Everman player who broke his neck in the state championship game last month and is now a quadraplegic.... I love his attiditude and the goodness of mankind that has come out of this tragic story.... I thought this would be a good post since it's off-season:
Forward progress for Everman's Fulbright
Steady gains fuel football player's ambition to walk again
01/24/2003
By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News
With his sleepy eyes and stylish cornrows, Corey Fulbright has aspirations of becoming either an actor or a model.
Never mind the electric wheelchair the 17-year-old uses at Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation in Dallas.
"I don't plan on having it long," said Fulbright, the former Everman football player who Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since being paralyzed in the Class 3A Division I state championship game Dec. 14."My first goal is to get out of this chair and start walking again," he said. "My second goal is to go to acting school and become a successful actor and movie star."
High school football
Online Only Video: Jim Douglas talks to Corey Fulbright
More football
Fulbright suffered a fractured C-5 vertebra while making a defensive play during the championship game at San Antonio's Alamodome. He has been hospitalized in San Antonio and Dallas for more than six weeks and has been at Baylor since Jan. 3.
Doctors say Fulbright will be a quadriplegic, but Fulbright is determined to make his own second opinion a reality. The senior began moving his left arm a week after the injury and has been steadily progressing.
"He still meets the criteria for the terminology 'quadriplegic,' but he is coming along rapidly, probably more rapidly than others," said Dr. Lance Bruce, a physical medicine rehabilitation doctor specializing in spinal cord medicine at Baylor.
"No. 1, he's a very healthy specimen. No. 2, he understands the concept of 'no pain, no gain.' His background in athletics gives him a tremendous benefit."
Fulbright is listed in good condition at Baylor. He is going through therapy sessions that stretch muscles in his arms and legs. He is expected to begin aquatic therapy soon.
Tom Fox / DMN
Corey Fulbright reclines in his wheelchair, assisted by his mother, Tammy Flanagan, and Everman trainer Clayton Marshall. Fulbright says he's "making a lot of progress."
Fulbright has had muscle twitches and spasms in his legs but has yet to move them. Despite doctors' pessimism, Fulbright said he expects to walk by May, just in time to receive his high school diploma after turning 18 on April 30.
"Everything's going great. I've been making a lot of progress," Fulbright said. "My arms are moving better, and I'm getting stronger every day.
"Every day, there is something different he can do that he wasn't able to do before," said Tammy Flanagan, Fulbright's mother. "I'm just really proud of him. It's overwhelming."
Fulbright said he was alert after he made the jarring hit on Burnet running back Patrick Miller in the first quarter of the game. He recalled hitting the ground, then trying to pick himself up, unable to move anything below the top of his shoulders.
"I remember the whole stadium being really quiet," Fulbright said. "I thought, at first, it was just a quick shot that would last only a few minutes. After that day ... [the doctors] told me my neck was broken, I became shocked.
"I didn't know what to think. I never thought this would happen to me."
Ironically, Fulbright's hit was a momentum-shifting play. Burnet led, 7-0, in the first quarter at the time, and Miller dropped a third-down pass to force a punt.
Everman went on to win, 35-14, and earn its second consecutive state title. Neither Fulbright nor his mother has seen the game film.
"She doesn't talk about it, but I want to see it," Fulbright said. "I've heard about the hit."
Flanagan and Fulbright's younger brothers, 15-year-old Eric and 14-year-old Derrick, took the news of Fulbright's paralysis the hardest. Flanagan said the family has a strong religious background and is relying on faith to pull Corey through.
Tom Fox / DMN
Doctors say that Corey Fulbright will remain a quadriplegic. He says he intends to walk to receive his diploma next spring and become an actor.
The family has been blanketed by a vast support group, from Everman coach Dale Keeling and his family, to teammates, to Kent Waldrep, whose injuries as a TCU player led him to start the National Paralysis Foundation.
"From where he was on Dec. 14, he's come a million miles, and we've come a million miles with him," Keeling said. "To be able to be as positive as he is, it says a lot about him.
"We're supposed to come to see him and make him feel better, but when we all leave, he makes us feel better."
Fund-raising organizers said more than $180,000 has been pledged from individuals and organizations, including a $10,000 check from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. A fund-raiser in Lewisville originated by the high school radio show Friday Night Gladiators raised more than $17,000.
Burnet fans – who rooted against Everman at the beginning of the state championship game – have raised almost $100,000 through donations and auctions. Also, a wheelchair-accessible minivan was donated in December, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a new home for the family will take place on Friday at 1917 Bollingbrooke in Everman.
"The support has been awesome," Flanagan said. "Sometimes, I get speechless. Other times, I just break down and cry because I know God is good. This is in God's hands, all the way in God's hands."
[This message has been edited by chick79 (edited 1/24/2003 9:47a).]
Forward progress for Everman's Fulbright
Steady gains fuel football player's ambition to walk again
01/24/2003
By DAMON L. SAYLES / The Dallas Morning News
With his sleepy eyes and stylish cornrows, Corey Fulbright has aspirations of becoming either an actor or a model.
Never mind the electric wheelchair the 17-year-old uses at Baylor Institute of Rehabilitation in Dallas.
"I don't plan on having it long," said Fulbright, the former Everman football player who Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since being paralyzed in the Class 3A Division I state championship game Dec. 14."My first goal is to get out of this chair and start walking again," he said. "My second goal is to go to acting school and become a successful actor and movie star."
High school football
Online Only Video: Jim Douglas talks to Corey Fulbright
More football
Fulbright suffered a fractured C-5 vertebra while making a defensive play during the championship game at San Antonio's Alamodome. He has been hospitalized in San Antonio and Dallas for more than six weeks and has been at Baylor since Jan. 3.
Doctors say Fulbright will be a quadriplegic, but Fulbright is determined to make his own second opinion a reality. The senior began moving his left arm a week after the injury and has been steadily progressing.
"He still meets the criteria for the terminology 'quadriplegic,' but he is coming along rapidly, probably more rapidly than others," said Dr. Lance Bruce, a physical medicine rehabilitation doctor specializing in spinal cord medicine at Baylor.
"No. 1, he's a very healthy specimen. No. 2, he understands the concept of 'no pain, no gain.' His background in athletics gives him a tremendous benefit."
Fulbright is listed in good condition at Baylor. He is going through therapy sessions that stretch muscles in his arms and legs. He is expected to begin aquatic therapy soon.
Tom Fox / DMN
Corey Fulbright reclines in his wheelchair, assisted by his mother, Tammy Flanagan, and Everman trainer Clayton Marshall. Fulbright says he's "making a lot of progress."
Fulbright has had muscle twitches and spasms in his legs but has yet to move them. Despite doctors' pessimism, Fulbright said he expects to walk by May, just in time to receive his high school diploma after turning 18 on April 30.
"Everything's going great. I've been making a lot of progress," Fulbright said. "My arms are moving better, and I'm getting stronger every day.
"Every day, there is something different he can do that he wasn't able to do before," said Tammy Flanagan, Fulbright's mother. "I'm just really proud of him. It's overwhelming."
Fulbright said he was alert after he made the jarring hit on Burnet running back Patrick Miller in the first quarter of the game. He recalled hitting the ground, then trying to pick himself up, unable to move anything below the top of his shoulders.
"I remember the whole stadium being really quiet," Fulbright said. "I thought, at first, it was just a quick shot that would last only a few minutes. After that day ... [the doctors] told me my neck was broken, I became shocked.
"I didn't know what to think. I never thought this would happen to me."
Ironically, Fulbright's hit was a momentum-shifting play. Burnet led, 7-0, in the first quarter at the time, and Miller dropped a third-down pass to force a punt.
Everman went on to win, 35-14, and earn its second consecutive state title. Neither Fulbright nor his mother has seen the game film.
"She doesn't talk about it, but I want to see it," Fulbright said. "I've heard about the hit."
Flanagan and Fulbright's younger brothers, 15-year-old Eric and 14-year-old Derrick, took the news of Fulbright's paralysis the hardest. Flanagan said the family has a strong religious background and is relying on faith to pull Corey through.
Tom Fox / DMN
Doctors say that Corey Fulbright will remain a quadriplegic. He says he intends to walk to receive his diploma next spring and become an actor.
The family has been blanketed by a vast support group, from Everman coach Dale Keeling and his family, to teammates, to Kent Waldrep, whose injuries as a TCU player led him to start the National Paralysis Foundation.
"From where he was on Dec. 14, he's come a million miles, and we've come a million miles with him," Keeling said. "To be able to be as positive as he is, it says a lot about him.
"We're supposed to come to see him and make him feel better, but when we all leave, he makes us feel better."
Fund-raising organizers said more than $180,000 has been pledged from individuals and organizations, including a $10,000 check from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. A fund-raiser in Lewisville originated by the high school radio show Friday Night Gladiators raised more than $17,000.
Burnet fans – who rooted against Everman at the beginning of the state championship game – have raised almost $100,000 through donations and auctions. Also, a wheelchair-accessible minivan was donated in December, and a groundbreaking ceremony for a new home for the family will take place on Friday at 1917 Bollingbrooke in Everman.
"The support has been awesome," Flanagan said. "Sometimes, I get speechless. Other times, I just break down and cry because I know God is good. This is in God's hands, all the way in God's hands."
[This message has been edited by chick79 (edited 1/24/2003 9:47a).]