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Kevin Everett steps into the spotlight in new book 'Standing Tall'
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 Drafted by the Buffalo Bills as a passcatching tight end, Kevin
Everett’s career stats would seem disappointing: two catches for
three yards.
But Everett has already entered the pantheon of
National Football League heroes for doing what most athletes take for
granted – walking. On Oct. 9, 2007, one month after falling
paralyzed to the Ralph Wilson Stadium turf after a tackle, he took a
few steps in a Houston rehabilitation center. Today, Everett
makes his post-football television debut on “Oprah” to talk
about his injury and recovery. “Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett
Story,” a book about his ordeal, goes on sale Friday. The
slim 214-page soft-cover book confirms what Buffalo Bills fans and
other Everett admirers already knew: The kid from Port Arthur, Texas,
is a fine young man who has won the respect of athletic opponents on
the field and medical professionals during his rehabilitation.
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Neck injury ends season for Bengals’ Pollack
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 The exact nature of David Pollack’s neck
injury remains a bit of a mystery, but this much is true: The
Bengals’ secondyear linebacker will miss the rest of the season. The
Bengals placed Pollack on injured reserve yesterday, a day after he was
injured tackling Browns running back Reuben Droughns early in
Cincinnati’s 34-17 victory in Paul Brown Stadium. Pollack spent Sunday night at University Hospital and was fitted with a
protective halo to immobilize his neck. Such devices are common for
neck fractures. A woman purporting to be Pollack’s wife, Lindsey,
sent an e-mail to Cincinnati.com saying Pollack had a fracture of the
C6 vertebra.
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Caracella's wife feared worst
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BLAKE Caracella's wife has told of her relief that her husband had not suffered permanent spinal damage after his collision with Lion Tim Notting on Saturday night.
Jackie Caracella last night remained by her husband's side at The Alfred Hospital. It was confirmed yesterday the Magpies forward had suffered a fractured neck and heavy bruising of his spinal cord. He will have to wear a neck brace for the next six weeks, but is expected to make a full recovery.
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A knee, a head. Is this football?
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On Saturday night, the footballer Blake Caracella, a star Collingwood forward, was flat on his back on the Melbourne Cricket Ground turf. His arms and legs were tingling. There was some loss of feeling. The panic must have been overwhelming. 
"He had a lot of thoughts going through his own mind about what might be going on," Collingwood Football Club doctor Paul Blackman said yesterday. "He was frightened at that point."
Caracella suffered a spinal injury in a collision with an opposition player. The ball was loose; Caracella had his head over it, the Brisbane Lions' Tim Notting was sliding in on his knees.
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Paralyzed skier sees marathon as opportunity to return a favor
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Farrell will be the first Challenge Aspen athlete with a spinal cord injury to attempt the annual marathon. The Challenge Aspen team has settled on running a marathon in Switzerland this fall, after competing in Maui last year. In previous years, hearing- and sight-impaired athletes have raised money and completed the race, but Farrell's endeavor is different.
First, he needs a lightweight wheelchair bike he can propel for long distances, then he needs to train his arms to push himself for 26.2 miles. Like the other participants on the team, he has to raise $4,500 dollars in donations. The money covers the cost of the trip and the marathon, with the rest going back to Challenge Aspen.
Farrell and his wife, Alissa, are holding a fundraising dinner at the Cantina on June 21. While the expensive chair has yet to arrive, Farrell has already begun prepping for his training.
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Making a bid for Beijing
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 After a fall during her family vacation, McKinnon-Tucker sustained a spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia. McKinnon-Tucker says that her wheelchair does not restrict her; instead, it empowers her to continue doing all the things any able-bodied person can do.
Prior to her injury, McKinnon-Tucker had been a casual sailor, sailing J-24s with her husband Dan. Afterwards, however, she became discouraged by the lack of competitive sailing boats for the disabled.
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Parents of injured 14-year-old gymnast stay hopeful
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14-year-old Richland girl recovering from spinal cord injury after tumbling accident
The parents of a Richland teenager hurt in a gymnastics accident spoke yesterday of their hopes for her recovery from a spinal cord injury. "We're praying and we're optimistic that she will walk again," said Claire Senita's mother, Emily.
Claire, who is in the eighth grade at Pine-Richland Middle School, was performing a gymnastics maneuver May 9 at Trinity Gymnastics, formerly Northland Sports Training Center, when she was injured.
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Injured jockey in good spirits
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Jockey Cindy Murphy spent an unusual Mother's Day with her son Sunday.
Instead of helping his mother at home, 10-year-old Cody was her physical therapist at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. He spent the day helping his mom walk and urging her to squeeze his hand as she recovers from a spinal cord injury suffered in a spill Thursday at Prairie Meadows.
"C'mon, squeeze," Cody ordered. And his mom tries, but while the left hand is improving, the right still struggles to make a fist.
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Jockey Murphy Bruises Spinal Cord in Fall
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Jockey Cindy Murphy remained hospitalized Friday after she was thrown in the fifth race at Prairie Meadows Thursday night. According to her husband, Travis Murphy, the jockey did not sustain any broken bones or head trauma from the accident, but was experiencing temporary paralysis due to a bruised spinal cord. Murphy fell when her mount, a 4-year-old filly named Ninnescah, was bumped leaving the gate in a 5 1/2-furlong claiming event for maiden fillies and mares. Breaking from the eight hole, Ninnescah was bumped by the seven horse, Kentucky Risk. The filly stumbled badly and threw Murphy, who may have been hit by her mount's hooves after falling. Racing at the Altoona track was delayed approximately 20 minutes as paramedics worked to stabilize the 44-year-old rider, who was unable to move following the incident.
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Olympic flag passed onto Vancouver mayor for 2010 Winter Games
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 TURIN, Italy -- The Olympic flag has been passed to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan accepted the five-ringed flag from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge on Sunday night during the closing ceremonies of the Turin Winter Games. Sullivan, a quadriplegic since a skiing accident at the age of 19, needed a special holster on his motorized wheelchair to wave the flag. Rogge inserted the flag's pole into the holster, then Sullivan rolled his chair on the stage to wave the flag eight times, bring a standing ovation from the crowd.
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