Joe Rhea defied the odds.

He was told he would never walk again after breaking his neck on Sept. 11, 1984 after a football accident left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Rhea will speak today about overcoming these obstacles to walk again.

Both the athletic department and University Members Against Drunk Drivers helped put the event together.

Rhea was 14 years old when the accident happened. He says a “false sense of security,” might have caused it.

In football the cardinal rule is to not lower your head, Rhea said. His coaches had told him this many times but he had convinced himself he was invincible to anything bad ever happening to him.

“I was a 14-year-old boy, that’s not what you want to hear,” Rhea said.

Recovery for Rhea has been slow. Seven days after the accident he started to get feeling back into his left leg. He also began to have some slight movement in that leg.

During the next two years, Rhea was involved with physical therapy to help get some movement back into his leg and also to relieve some pain.

Even though today Rhea is done with the conventional form of physical therapy, he says physical therapy for him is daily life.

Rhea is still partially paralyzed, but he can walk. He had an incomplete spinal cord injury.

Every day is a struggle for Rhea.

“Lifting a coffee cup is a chore for me,” Rhea said.

He still sees repercussions of the accident in his daily life. Twenty-three years of wear and tear on his body because of the accident has given him other difficulties such as arthritis and tendonitis.

“Everything I do strains my muscles to the point of exhaustion,” Rhea said.

Even though he still has some physical aliments because of the accident, he never gave up on walking again.

Jenny Ellis, Rhea’s wife, thinks the kind of person he is made him get to where he is today.

“He’s got a ‘nothing is going to stop him’ attitude,” Ellis said. “Some days he tires quicker than others, but he doesn’t let that stop him.”

Rhea’s muscles are never going to fully regain their strength.

He does not want students to go through difficulties like he has been through.

He first started getting involved with a foundation called Think First, a global non-profit organization for K-12 students in the winter of 2000.

He then became the lead speaker for Think First. Being the lead speaker, Rhea speaks about 100 times a year in Kansas City, his hometown.

The program’s main purpose is to tell the dangers of drinking and driving.

But what motivated Rhea to start speaking to college-age students was the pain he has gone through.

“You don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through,” Rhea said.

He says prevention is the key to lowering drinking and driving incidents among students.

“College age students are at the highest risk for brain and spinal cord injuries due to car crashes,” Rhea said.

While still being involved with Think First, Rhea also travels to different colleges to tell his story. His goal is to travel to 20 colleges a year while also still being the lead speaker for Think First.

When Rhea speaks to students, especially with Think First, he brings others who have gone through similar incidents as him. He will bring local individuals who have suffered brain or spinal injuries to his program.

Even though Rhea’s story does not directly deal with drinking and driving, he is concerned about bringing awareness about it to college students.

Cindy Tozer, academic services director and life skills coordinator for the athletic department, chose Rhea to come speak.

“I wanted to bring in someone that talked about the dangers of drinking and driving, but also someone that could be inspirational to our student-athletes,” she said. “When I saw Joe Rhea’s five minute video clip, I knew that his story would make a huge impact on our students.”

The presentation will be mandatory for student athletes.

“Twice a year we have mandatory life skill presentations for the student-athletes,” Tozer said. “This is part of our “life skill” program. Therefore, we make it mandatory for the athletes.

“We not only have a responsibility to help them with their academic pursuits, but also to help graduate students that will become responsible citizens and leaders.”

At an age when students think they are immune to terrible incidents, Rhea knows that getting the message out there will be better for everyone.

“There’s no guarantee for your life tomorrow, it can change and the decisions you make now can affect your family,” Rhea said.

Rhea will speak at 7:30 p.m. today in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.