Walking miracle How faith, positive thinking, and passion for football brought me back from paralysis ... and helped me find purpose

Ryan Shazier

Book - 2021

"All American at Ohio State and All Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier has learned to live his best life, and come to terms with the game he loves and has given him so much. And as Ryan has also learned: success is no longer measured by tackles or sacks; it is measured by purpose and strength. WALKING MIRACLE is the story of this new definition of success. The narrative follows the arc from December 4, 2017 when Shazier was injured playing the Cincinnati Bengals, to his retirement. For three years, Shazier doggedly pursued a return to professional football. He took small wins as first downs on the drive to return to the field, moving his toes, walking, dancing at his wedding, and ultimately running and returning t...o the team. What Shazier didn't realize is that along the way, he was preparing himself for another purpose. The journey was preparing him not for a renewed life as a middle linebacker, but a renewed life as a father and husband, philanthropist, and football analyst. Here we see Shazier overcome childhood alopecia, which caused a great deal of emotional pain, and scoliosis, which nearly robbed him of his dreams of playing college and professional football. We gain insights into legendary coaches Urban Meyer and Mike Tomlin. And we see him star on the field; Shazier was one of the best defensive players in Steeler history-a history full of defensive stars. WALKING MIRACLE-the message on a bracelet given to him by his Godmother-is the story of Ryan's comeback, but it's also a book of life's lessons, challenges, and so much more"--

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Subjects
Genres
Autobiographies
Biographies
Published
New York : Grand Central Publishing 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Ryan Shazier (author)
Other Authors
Larry Platt (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
x, 243 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781538706251
  • Introduction: "Ya Gotta Shalieve!"
  • Chapter 1. "Daddy, Pray for Me"
  • Chapter 2. Faith. Discipline. Integrity.
  • Chapter 3. "No One Has Ever Had This Injury Before"
  • Chapter 4. The Obstacle in the Path Becomes the Path
  • Chapter 5. "I'm Not Going Anywhere"
  • Chapter 6. Recovery Road
  • Chapter 7. David with the Slingshot
  • Chapter 8. Luck Is the Residue of Design
  • Chapter 9. The Comeback
  • Chapter 10. Those Who Remain Become Champions
  • Chapter 11. The Terror of Living Without the Game
  • Chapter 12. Ah... Purpose!
  • Chapter 13. "You Can Retire from the Game of Football, but You're Never Going to Retire from Being a Pittsburgh Steeler"
  • Epilogue: Lessons
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Authors
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this extraordinary debut, former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Shazier recounts his inspiring path to recovery after being paralyzed from the waist down. Unlike other sports memoirs, Shazier's story steers clear of clichéd descriptions of his dedication to the game. Instead, he focuses on the unwavering support of his family, friends, and teammates as he leads readers through the difficult months that followed a routine tackle in 2017 that left him with a "20 percent chance of walking again." He recalls his painstaking recovery process, as he went from catching thrown teddy bears to test his reflexes to attending his team's games in a wheelchair and eventually beginning the therapy that led him to walk again. While he writes it wasn't "all inspiration and smiles," his experience fueled his desire to serve "a greater good" through a commitment to charitable work. Interspersed with thoughtful reflections on what it means to reconfigure one's life and goals, Shazier's testimony of hope and personal strength reaches its emotional pinnacle when a video of him and his wife dancing at their wedding goes viral. "Seventeen months ago... I'd been carted off the field," he writes. "Now there I was, dancing.... It was the ultimate first down." The result will score with more than just football fans. (Nov.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A former NFL star writes about an on-field injury that threatened to paralyze him for life. Shazier, a standout linebacker at Ohio State and with the Pittsburgh Steelers, liked nothing better than to smack up against the opposing line, and especially to sack opposing quarterbacks. Unfortunately, before the league rules changed, Shazier was a devotee of helmet-to-helmet contact, collisions that were "always dangerous": They subject both offensive and defensive players to the danger of breaking a neck or experiencing a major concussion. Shazier found that danger realized in a game against Cincinnati, when, after a fairly routine tackle, he was unable to move his legs. Working with accomplished sportswriter Platt, Shazier digs into the statistics surrounding injuries in the football world. For example, defensive backs and linebackers suffer the greatest incidence of spinal injuries on the gridiron, and the numbers are appalling. The author's injury was different in that it involved a back already compromised by scoliosis. With a grim medical outlook at first, it seemed that he might be forever wheelchair-bound, but Shazier fought the odds: "It actually took more fight and will and stamina to walk on a treadmill in the six months after my injury than it ever did to leave it all on the practice field as an NFL player….On the treadmill, I was fighting my own body." Now retired from the game, Shazier launched a foundation to aid people with spinal injuries--he reckons there are about 295,000 in the U.S.--and fund research. He also draws on his Christian faith and appreciation of Roman stoicism to offer thoughts on how to keep going "when things look so bleak you want to quit," thoughts given without the hollow rah-rah of so many sports-oriented motivational texts. Inspirational reading for athletes and, in particular, those injured in the pursuit of the prize. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.