Ex-NFL player breaks silence after beating brain tumor - 'I was told I would never walk again'
When Jerome Harrison was traded from the Detroit Lions to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, he hoped he would get the chance to be the big-time feature back he always wanted to become.
But instead of “The Ghost” being launched to years of Pro Bowls and a potential Hall-of-Fame career, he got some bad news at a physical.
Harrison had a brain tumor. The ensuing surgery ended his playing career and nearly kept him wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.
Turns out, however, that unlike the brain damage that normally comes from pro football, successful removal of a brain tumor followed by years of grueling recovery can, in fact, have a happy ending.
On Saturday, Harrison tweeted out a video of himself standing under his own power and speaking to the camera as he delivered a message to fans who saw a promising NFL player’s career cut short.
https://twitter.com/jharrison_35/status/1003050589583040512
“For the rest of your life you will have people telling you what you can and cannot do,” Harrison said. “Nobody can determine what you do but yourself, and what I’ve realized in my life is my attitude controls everything. I was told I would never walk again, I would live the rest of my life in a wheelchair. And I’m here standing up in front of you today.”
Harrison also tweeted before-and-after pictures from shortly after his diagnosis and years later in physical therapy.
https://twitter.com/jharrison_35/status/1003003144513736705
Harrison wrote, “5 years ago doctors discovered that I had a brain tumor. After surgery I was a diagnosed quadriplegic and doctors told me I would never be able to walk again. With faith and perseverance I was able to regain strength in my legs and take steps. #ImpossibleIsNothing.”
Harrison’s biggest claim to fame came in 2009, when he rushed for 286 yards in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Harrison’s monster game helped Cleveland to a 41-34 win despite Browns quarterback Brady Quinn throwing for just 66 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
That 2009 season was the peak of Harrison’s career; he racked up 1,082 yards from scrimmage — 862 on the ground and 220 catching passes — the only time he was over, or indeed anywhere near, the 1,000-yard mark.
Harrison forced a trade from Cleveland in 2010, which is how the Eagles found themselves with him, and in 2012, the fateful trade that led to the discovery of his illness went down.
Ex-Browns receiver Josh Cribbs noticed the state of his former teammate’s condition in 2012, remarking on the seizures Harrison suffered as the tumor put pressure on his brain.
“I still go over to his house every now and then and talk to him,” Cribbs told NFL.com. “He’s doing pretty bad. He’s in and out of the hospital with seizures. They just don’t want the same thing to happen to me.”
Harrison still has a long road ahead of him, but he’s beaten the worst-case scenario and is literally back on his feet.
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