Just in time for a very merry Christmas indeed comes word that Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett is walking on his own. Everett, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury during the season opener against Denver, was thought to be so badly injured that doctors feared he would never walk again.
"He doesn't have a full natural stride but, yeah, he's walking," a person close to the family told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of Everett's status.
The person said Everett has been walking under his own power since his release from Memorial Hermann/TIRR three weeks ago and is now an outpatient there. The person added Everett is picked up at his Houston-area home by car to attend daily rehab sessions and is able to walk to and from the facility.
"He's not driving or anything like that, but he is walking. He's not running. He is walking," the person said.
Doctors initially feared he'd never walk again after what was described as a life-threatening injury while making a tackle in the Sept. 9 season opener against Denver. Everett was paralyzed from the neck down when he arrived at Buffalo's Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital and spent the first few days on life support.
Just to remind folks, the Buffalo Bills did the classy thing and have kept Everett on injured reserve, which ensured Everett became a three-year NFL veteran and vests him in the lifetime benefits package from the player's union.
Congratulations to Kevin Everett and his family. Merry Christmas.
