Features Kevin Hillery, The First Paraplegic To Graduate
From The U.S. Naval Academy
BOSTON - Today, the Brown campaign released a new web video, “Kevin’s Story,” featuring a heartwarming story about Senator Brown’s constituent service work on behalf of a Massachusetts family.
In April 2011, U.S. Naval Academy student Kevin Hillery, a Medway native, sustained a spinal cord injury in a bike accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. As Kevin began the rehabilitation process, he was determined to get back to school and graduate on time. With the help of Senator Brown and his office, Kevin became the first paraplegic to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 2012.
The web video features Kevin and his parents, Frank and Ellen, telling their story about Kevin’s rehabilitation and the help they received from Senator Brown.
It concludes with Frank Hillery saying: “people talk about the Senator as an average, ordinary guy and I don’t think there was anything average or ordinary about what the Senator did to help Kevin. Washington needs people who will do the right thing, regardless of their party.”
To Watch “Kevin’s Story” Please Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
TRANSCRIPT FOR “KEVIN’S STORY” (WEB 3:20)
FRANK HILLERY: “Kevin was always a goal-oriented, driven kind of kid in that he wanted to go to the U.S. Naval Academy.”
VIDEO TEXT: This Is Kevin’s Story
FRANK HILLERY: “He was participating in an adventure race, and a freak accident happened while they were on the mountain biking portion of the race. Fortunately, he survived, but unfortunately he had a severe spinal cord injury which has left him paralyzed below the waist.”
VIDEO TEXT: Frank Hillery, Kevin’s Father, Lifelong Democrat
FRANK HILLERY: “It was probably, two, three days after the injury, I got a call on my cell phone and it was Senator Brown. He said, ‘what is it that I can do? Just tell me what I can do.’ In the months after Kevin’s injury, his first important priority was to get back to school and to graduate on time, with his class.”
VIDEO TEXT: Ellen Hillery, Kevin’s Mother, Lifelong Democrat
ELLEN HILLARY: “People in Senator Brown’s office helped us and Kevin to understand what needed to be done in order for them to look at it and say, ‘yes, you’ve done everything right, you can come back.’”
VIDEO TEXT: Kevin Hillery
KEVIN HILLERY: “I was left paralyzed from the waist down, so it was a pretty unprecedented case for the Naval Academy and the Navy to have a midshipman have an injury like that, so there was some confusion about whether or not I’d be able to go back to school and finish up and graduate. We came to Scott and he followed my case and it meant a lot. He called up our Superintendent and helped straighten everything out and made sure that I could graduate on time, so it was a huge help to me.”
FRANK HILLERY: “I think after Senator Brown had a chance to meet Kevin personally while he was rehabbing at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury, seeing Kevin actually swimming, without the use of his legs, I think Senator Brown realized this was a kid he needed to really go the mile for. And he did. He raised Kevin’s situation to the attention of the right people in the government and the military such that they allowed Kevin to resume his studies and to graduate on time with the class of 2012 of the United States Naval Academy.”
KEVIN HILLERY: “I think it was important to me know that I have a Senator that cares a lot about the personal lives of each of his constituents and is there to help out whenever somebody needs something. All the help that he gave me just shows that he’s a great guy and is willing to go out of his way to help out all his constituents in Massachusetts.”
FRANK HILLERY: “People talk about the Senator as an average, ordinary guy and I don’t think there was anything average or ordinary about what the Senator did to help Kevin. Washington needs people who will do the right thing, regardless of their party.”
ELLEN HILLERY: “Party – it doesn’t matter.”
FRANK HILLERY: “It’s been clear to our family through personal experience that Senator Brown absolutely does the right thing.”
VIDEO TEXT: Thanks To Scott’s help, Kevin Was The First Paraplegic Student To Ever Graduate From The Naval Academy In History
SCOTT BROWN: “I am nobody’s Senator except yours.”
VIDEO TEXT: Scott Brown, He’s For Us
