Every once in a while you run into a story that you would like to tell the world about. Most of the time, those stories are of inspiration or perseverance. Someone coming above and beyond the call of duty.
For example, last year there was a great story that came out thanks to an unbelievable display of sportsmanship in a softball game. If you don't remember the story, here's the link: "Sportsmanship in Softball Game."
Another example is of Kurt Suzuki, Orlando Cabrera, and their two wives earlier this year helping to lead fundraising, along with Major League Baseball, to help out Jon Wilhite, the only survior of the car accident that took the life of Nick Adenhart ("Wilhite Throws Out First Pitch").
On Bleacher Report, there was a writer who came up with two lists of professional athletes that give back to their communities.
Well, there's another story to add to these lists. It's a story of tragedy, hope, perseverance, strength, and a man who has no fear. His name is Kevin Maher.
Not a lot of people outside of Portland, Oregon would have a clue to who he is. Well, it's time you learn.
Maher went to Lake Oswego High School in Lake Oswego, Ore. Lake Oswego is a suburb of Portland. In fact, there's been two big-name athletes that have come out of Lake Oswego recently—Kevin Love and Jillian Harmon.
But, those were mostly basketball stars. Love went to UCLA and played a year, and Harmon played all four years at Stanford.
According to the article written on Maher from Oregonlive.com, titled "Former Lake Oswego Star Works his way Back to the Game. " as a special for The Oregonian by Lindsay Schnell.
Maher's coach at Western Oregon, Arne Ferguson, claims that "he's one of the best players to come out of Oregon in the last 10 to 15 years."
Pretty good company, considering that Oregon has produced Erik Ainge and Kevin Riley.
Schnell summarizes the events of before the hit and run that nearly cost Maher his life and where he is today at Western Oregon playing football.
Maher playingg for Lake Oswego, led the team in receptions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions. He played wide receiver on offense and linebacker on defense.
When Maher graduated high school, he received a scholarship offer to play at Oregon State, but didn't have the grades to enroll. Instead, he went to a community college in Los Gatos, California, where he played the same positions as he did in high school.
After two years in Los Gatos, Maher was planning on transferring to Oregon State to play football, but it never happened. Instead, a life-changing event occurred that changed his life forever.
It's a parent's worst nightmare. You get a phone call in the middle of the night regarding your child. Even more scary is when that phone call is received in Ireland, where Maher's mother was during that life-changing event.
I can't imagine the anxiety running through the head of Maher's mom, Gabrielle, as she was flying back to the United States, only knowing that her son had been in a serious accident.
On May 3, 2008, Maher was walking home early one morning when a car careened out of control and hit him at about 30 miles-per-hour, according to police estimates. Maher was struck by the car as he was trying to avoid being hit.
The driver fled the scene, and though Maher tried evading the car, he had his head slammed on the concrete, where he was left bleeding on the side of the road.
It took 15 hours before Maher awakened, but even more scary was the fact that he had blood clot in the back of his skull, and because of that clot, the dream of playing football was thought to be over. As for the driver of the vehicle that hit him, that person has never been found.
Doctors had to wait a couple of days before they could treat the clot. They first needed Maher to be stable. The doctors gave two options: one was blood thinners and the other was an invasive and risky procedure.
According to medterms.com, a simple definition of a blood clot is this: blood that has been transformed from a liquid to a solid state; it's also known as a thrombus.
The problem with a blood clot is if it becomes an embolus, meaning that it travels through the blood stream, lodges itself in a blood vessel and blocks it.
With Maher, he had good news from the doctor because of the blood thinners the clot cemented itself, meaning that there wasn't a risk of the clot bursting.
Using this news, Maher wanted to return to playing football, but his parents still worried about him, so at that point, he wasn't allowed to do much. He was allowed to exercise for 45 minutes a day and that's it.
Yet, finally he snapped at his parents and stated "All I want to do is play football. Once people figured out I wasn't going to change my mind. They thought well, 'We've gotta help him get there.'"
According to Schnell Maher got his inspiration from those who doubted him. Maher is quoted from that same article as saying "I always knew I was going to play in college, nothing can keep me off that field. Everyone had uncertainties, but I never lost hope."
With his determination, perseverance, and strength have all played roles and helped him get back on the football field. Maher is now playing at Western Oregon University. His first block of his career at Western Oregon freed teammate Jon Dowd to score on a 49-yard punt return.
"I can't wait to see it on film," said a smiling Maher afterward. "It's surreal. I'm back."
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