Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story

by Scott Brown, Sam Carchidi, Joe Paterno (Foreword)

Adam Taliaferro had it smarts, an easy-going personality, and incomparable athletic ability. None of that seemed to matter, however, on that fateful September day when his father was given startling Do not expect your son to walk. Ever. Since that numbing day, Taliaferro, the Penn State freshman cornerback who was paralyzed after he tackled an Ohio State running back, has defied the odds. Before he had spinal-fusion surgery, he made a vow to his \u201cMom, I'm not going out like this.\u201d Three months later, he walked out of a Philadelphia hospital on crutches, determined to complete his amazing recovery, making the name \u201cAdam Taliaferro\u201d synonymous with courage and perseverance.

Genres: Sports

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 31, 2016
Book Review : Miracle In The Making
My reading experience was great, I was locked into the book. The book was sad however it also had some happy and exciting moments. For example when Adam made the devastating tackle, that paralyzed him neck down, it was a sad moment. All of Adam's teammates were holding hands and praying for the best, and Adam's parents were at home crying watching their son experience and go through a lot of fear and pain. Eventually Adam was sent to the hospital, after months of rehab and prayers from Adam's friends and family he began to gain movement in his fingers and foot. This gained hope and made everyone happy. Everyone knew Adam wasn't the type to give up , they knew he would walk again. "Of course he would walk again, Carlisle thought. He had seen Adam push himself to the brink physically and mentally on a daily basis. He knew the grueling rehabilitation that lay ahead would not break Adam's spirit"(Roots of Strength, p55). This statement shows how strong Adam was and how much hope and support people had for him . How would you react if someone you loved might not ever walk again? Think about that , it's a lot to take In. However I recommend this book to all the young men that plays football. This books shows you how to handle diversity, and how easily something you love can be taking away from you in a split second .

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any Penn State fan. This is a remarkable story of a young man in his prime becoming paralyzed during. Doctors gave him very little chance of ever walking again, yet that is just what he went on to do. In the author's telling of this story, the reader really gets to know Adam Taliaferro and his family especially well. A number of things got the Adam Taliaferro over and through such a devastating injury. But one of the biggest factors was his never give up attitude. No matter how bleak things looked, he never ever gave up hope that he would walk again. He was a true battler through this situation as his positive attitude. He always believed that he would walk again and defied the opinions of medical experts.

[Ben Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about a young man that had a promising future playing football until that rainy day in Ohio. Adam showed the powerful benefits of what having hope and determination can do to change your outcome. Someone should have grabbed this story and made a movie out of it!

I was amazed at how much Penn State stayed with Adam during his months of rehab and therapy.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a "triumph against all odds" story!

[Colin Cerniglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is powerful. It's kind of a choppy read to follow at times. But there's no denying you'll still be inspired by Adam if you take this time to read this book!

[Bruce Quint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly powerful story. The power of positive thinking goes a long way.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love football, love medicine, so this book seemed like a natural interest piece for me. That and Penn State is THE college football team around here, so the story got a good bit of press, but I hadn't heard much about Adam lately, or really much since he took his first steps since the injury years back.
So far, the book is focusing mostly on Adam's life before the injury, as it is interwoven with his day-to-day progress. Makes sense though, because recovery from an injury such as his is not normally one of rapid progress.
I have now finished the book, and it does tell a remarkable story, because not only did he recover from the injury, but Adam Taliaferro was able to return to college the following summer trimester, requiring only minimal therapy to regain strength in the fine motor skills of one hand.
I did find the author repeating details throughout the book, as if he wasn't sure he mentioned that a certain coach retired after Adam's senior high school season or that Joe Paterno empathized with Taliaferro's story because his own son survived a potentially tragic accident and made a near full recovery. That was my primary fault with this book. As much as I liked the intertwining of Adam's recovery story with other details from his past that explained who he is, beyond a Penn State football player who was injured playing Ohio State as a freshman, the repetition was noticeable to me because I remember the details from early in the book.
Obviously, a story like this doesn't end, so what it also accomplishes, a decade after the accident, it to ask the 'whatever happened to...?" question. In fact, the book ends before answering the question of whether Adam accomplished his long-term goal of leading Penn State onto the field for the first home game the season after his injury. As of now, I have not looked for the answer, but I imagine he did, given the progress he made by the summer semester, when the book ends.

[Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
October 31, 2016
Book Review : Miracle In The Making
My reading experience was great, I was locked into the book. The book was sad however it also had some happy and exciting moments. For example when Adam made the devastating tackle, that paralyzed him neck down, it was a sad moment. All of Adam's teammates were holding hands and praying for the best, and Adam's parents were at home crying watching their son experience and go through a lot of fear and pain. Eventually Adam was sent to the hospital, after months of rehab and prayers from Adam's friends and family he began to gain movement in his fingers and foot. This gained hope and made everyone happy. Everyone knew Adam wasn't the type to give up , they knew he would walk again. "Of course he would walk again, Carlisle thought. He had seen Adam push himself to the brink physically and mentally on a daily basis. He knew the grueling rehabilitation that lay ahead would not break Adam's spirit"(Roots of Strength, p55). This statement shows how strong Adam was and how much hope and support people had for him . How would you react if someone you loved might not ever walk again? Think about that , it's a lot to take In. However I recommend this book to all the young men that plays football. This books shows you how to handle diversity, and how easily something you love can be taking away from you in a split second .

[J L's Bibliomania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half a generic sport biography, half a stereotyped personal disaster recovery narrative. Appears to have been written shortly after Adam’s initial recovery from his potentially life threatening broken neck and updated several years later after he successfully passed the bar to become a lawyer. The book was a quick read that I finished in an evening. I found the book a bit circular and hard to follow (as with many of these books, it opened with the injury and then circled around the narrative of recovery with frequent flashbacks to cover his youth, family and other topics). Nevertheless, my 6th grade son has been caught by the story, perhaps because the Taliaferro family lives in a nearby community, and has read it at least 6 times since we brought it home as part of a batch of potential biographies for a school assignment.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a student who is going into physical therapy this book is AMAZING. It shows the psychological struggles before and during Adam's spinal cord injury. It shows just how he had to work and prove to his body that he could walk again. The emotional roller coaster his friends, teammates, family and OTs & PTs went through and how tough it was for his parents to keep him positive while the doctors were trying to stay "realistic". Anyone who has had an injury or just loves sports and miracles this book is perfect. You really begin to feel attached and feel the emotion as you read.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

An inspiring true story and a quickread. I enjoyed this book for a few reasons. I follow college football, I love Penn State, I work in the field of medicine, and I was working with the PSU football team in the fall of 2000. Nevertheless, this would still be an awesome story even if none of the above applies to you.

[Curt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shows the real empathy of Joe Pa and his wife its a shame his career ended in shame. Adam is a very stubborn person who believes in himself enough to go on in his despite the hand he was dealt at an early age .