Even in a physical and sometimes brutal sport like football, where injuries are almost an occupational hazard, the hit that left Adam Taliaferro paralyzed and motionless on the Ohio Stadium turf was a nightmare. On a head-first tackle late in a loss at Ohio State in 2000, the Penn State defensive back crushed the fifth cervical in his neck and bruised his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the neck down.
Now a politician in New Jersey, Taliaferro eventually and miraculously recovered and regained the ability to walk, thanks in some part to the care he received immediately after his injury from the Nittany Lions medical staff.