James Perdue, author of One More Play, was going to college on a baseball scholarship. He was hoping to become a major league baseball player to support his family. But that dream ended suddenly.
He was playing a pick-up game of tackle football with some friends. When he decided that he had spent enough time at the game, his friends asked him to stay in for one more play. They needed someone to run the ball across the goal line.
Perdue agreed, saying he would stay for "just one more play." He ran the ball across the goal line, scoring a touchdown, but was immediately tackled by an opposing team member. Perdue went down, hearing a loud popping nose. He couldn't move.
A medical exam determined that he had broken his neck and was a quadriplegic. The doctor told him that he would never walk again and possibly not be able to move any part of his body from the neck down.
His family was advised to place him in a nursing home. But neither Perdue nor his family accepted that recommendation. Instead, they brought him home, where they performed their own, self-created form of physical therapy.
Perdue became able to propel himself in a wheel chair, though he still has only limited use of his hands and arms. He earned a Ph.D. in education and became a teacher and, believe it or not, a middle school basketball coach.
Seeking ever-expanding ways to live a full life, and to help others, Perdue has become a motivational speaker. He encourages others, especially injured athletes and wounded military personnel, how to "Persevere Past Your Paralysis."
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