Most Likely to Survive

Most Likely to Survive: The Story of Matthew Faulkner's Miraculous Recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury is a non-fiction work written by Joe Kirchmyer and the book's subject, Matt Faulkner. The book was released in March 2013 and details a car accident in which Faulkner was a passenger.[1][2] This occurred just a few months prior to his graduation from West Seneca West Senior High School (WSW) in 2009. Faulkner suffered from a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) which left him in a coma for nearly two months. He spent three weeks on life support in the ICU at the Erie County Medical Center. He walked out of the hospital after 103 days and then received his high school diploma from West Seneca West just 12 days later.[3][4] The book's title is a reference to Faulkner being named "Most Likely to Succeed" by his high school graduating class shortly before the accident.

Most Likely to Survive
AuthorJoseph Kirchmyer, and Matthew Faulkner
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre
PublisherNo Frills Buffalo
Publication date
  • 31 January 2013 (Paperback)
  • 8 April 2013 (Kindle)
Pages140
ISBN978-0615759739

The book details Faulkner's life leading up to the accident, including his family life and having earned a place in the top ten percent of his high school graduating class, as well as admission to the all-college honors program at Canisius College[1]. A large majority of the book covers his hospitalization, rehabilitation, and his life in the years after the injury, including starting school at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and working towards his college graduation in 2013.[5]

The book closes with a personal note from Faulkner about his aspirations for a new approach to TBI rehabilitation, including "our society to reach some type of recognition that brain injury does happen, and that we need to do more for the victims, especially the young people who suffer from such an awful occurrence." He goes on to establish his ambition of seeing better TBI rehabilitation and outcomes.[6]

Release

On March 23, 2013, the book was released with the documentary film, Recovery (2016), at the film's "grand Buffalo screening" which took place at University at Buffalo (UB) Center for the Arts[4]. The documentary film, which also documents Faulkner's accident, TBI and life after, was first test screened in Buffalo, New York in 2013, applied to film festivals in 2014, premiered at a film festival in 2015, and became publicly available in 2016. Additionally, the film has streamed for free on FilmFreeway since September 7, 2017.[7][8][9]

Recovery was directed and produced by Ryan Monolopolus, who also graduated from WSW alongside Faulkner and remained friends with him following high school.[10] Monolopolus was interviewed by the West Seneca Central School District for their Spring 2017 newsletter, and indicated that the film's debut screening at UB was "the largest screening for a student work ever at UB." [11]

According to Monolopolus' resume, the film was allegedly selected as the "Best Documentary" at the "Speak Here, First" film festival in 2015, although no other reference to this can be found.[12]

According to Monolopolus' website, Recovery was shot in collaboration with Mercy Flight and Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), and includes footage of a reenacted helicopter flight to ECMC, giving a portrayl of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) air transport that was available to Faulkner to rush him to the hospital.[13][14] The film had an approximate budget of $15,000.[15]

Kirchmyer and Faulkner held several book signings after the initial release, notably one with a screening of the documentary film, Recovery at Canisius College in Regis North.[16][17] The book remains available on Amazon.com in both paperback and eBook formats.

Community Engagement

Prior to the release of the book and documentary film, Faulkner was interviewed by Melissa Holmes of WGRZ, a local news station in Buffalo, NY.[18][19] Holmes interviewed both Faulkner and Monolopolus for the TV news feature in the Canisius College library. Monolopolus told Holmes that "Matt's recovery can be used as an example of how people move forward in multiple calibers. Not just from a medical injury, but how do people move on from anything that may be traumatic or jarring in their lives?"

In describing the experience and how the book and documentary could have an impact on others, Faulkner said that he hopes other people "...can get inspiration to know that what they think may be impossible could very well be possible," said Faulkner.

Since the release of the book and documentary, Faulkner has spoken publicly on the topics of TBI, rehabilitation, motivation and recovery. In 2014, Monolopolus produced several TV ad spots for Mercy Flight, including one which featured Faulkner describing his accident and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) service provided by Mercy Flight.[20]

In 2018, Faulkner was a featured guest of Amy Zellmer on her podcast, Faces of TBI, during which he described the book and documentary as a "launching point" for him to share his experience with others, including students and nurses. He also indicated some of the past opportunities he has had to speak to groups, including at the 2015 WSW National Honor Society induction ceremony,[21] as well as speaking to a graduate level physical therapy class at UB each year since 2014.[22]

In 2019, he delivered the commencement address at both the West Seneca West (WSW),[23] and East (WSE) Senior[24] High School graduations, commenting that he works on "community awareness projects where I go to groups and speak about my experiences and rehabilitation and my experience with my brain injury and things like that. I’ve spoken to groups of nurses and other clinicians. I go to speak [with] students at UB in physical therapy every year.”[25][26]

Later in 2019, Faulkner participated in a video feature in support of Mercy Flight,[27] describing his accident, the EMS support, his recovery and motivations. The video was featured at the 2019 "Beacon of Hope Gala" to raise money for their causes.[28]

In November 2020, Faulkner gave a virtual presentation to the seniors in National Honor Society (NHS) at WSW. Presenting as both an alumnus and a former NHS board member, he shared his experience with adapting to significant change during his senior year of high school, reminding them to remain flexible with there plans as they are likely to change with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

In December 2020, Faulkner was recorded for two videos for the Brainwaves Video Anthology channel on YouTube. In the videos, Faulkner shared his story, and how he hopes to have an impact on the lives of others, just as so many others helped him.[30][31]

References
  1. "'A long way to go' for car crash victim". The Buffalo News. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  2. Holmes, Melissa (14 Feb 2013). "Matt Faulkner: From Tragedy to Triumph". WGRZ-TV. WGRZ-TV. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  3. Kirchmyer, Joe. Most likely to survive. Faulkner, Matthew. Buffalo, NY. ISBN 978-0-615-75973-9. OCLC 841488575.
  4. Olczak, Paul (7 February 2013). "Tragedy brings friends together again". West Seneca Bee. Bee Publications. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  5. "Degree of Resilience". Canisius.edu. Canisius College. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. Kirchmyer, Joe (23 March 2013). Most Likely to Survive. No Frills Buffalo. pp. 128–132.
  7. "'Recovery' documentary now available for free online viewing". Orchard Park Bee. Bee Publications Inc. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  8. "Recovery (2016)". IMDB. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  9. Monolopolus, Ryan. "Recovery - FIlmFreeway". FilmFreeway. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  10. Olczak, Paul (7 February 2013). "Tragedy brings friends together again". West Seneca Bee. Bee Publications. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  11. Kirchmyer, Lauren (April 2017). "Catching Up with the Original Mr. West" (PDF). Our Schools (Vol 43 Issue 3). West Seneca Central School District. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  12. "Ryan Monolopolus | MySHOOT". MySHOOT. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  13. "Matt Faulkner: From Tragedy to Triumph". WGRZ. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  14. Monolopolus, Ryan. "Recovery". RyanMono.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  15. "Recovery (2016)". IMDB. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  16. "Matt Faulkner video screening and book signing tonight". Canisius College. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  17. Goodwin, David. "Canisius Student Inspires Book and Movie". The Griffin. Canisius College WordPress. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  18. Holmes, Melissa. "Good Story Challenge: From Tragedy to Triumph". YouTube. WGRZ-TV. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  19. Holmes, Melissa (14 February 2013). "Matt Faulkner: From Tragedy to Triumph". WGRZ-TV. WGRZ-TV. WGRZ. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  20. Monolopolus, Ryan. "When Minutes Matter: Matthew Faulkner". Vimeo. Vimeo. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  21. Faulkner, Matt. "Facebook, "NHSAddress 2015"". Facebook. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  22. Zellmer, Amy. "Survivor Matt Faulkner Shares his Story and Discusses Documentary Film". Blog Talk Radio. Faces of TBI. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  23. "Matt Faulkner - 2019 West Seneca West Commencement". YouTube. West Seneca Central Schools. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  24. "Matt Faulkner - 2019 West Seneca East Commencement". YouTube. West Seneca Central Schools. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  25. "Faulkner delivers inspirational message to West Seneca seniors". West Seneca Bee. Bee Publications. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  26. Anderson, Kelsey (25 June 2019). "Ten years after a crash that almost claimed his life, WNYer inspires graduating seniors". WIVB-TV. News 4 Buffalo. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  27. DiSciullo, John. "Mercy Flight - Matt Faulkner". YouTube. WBBZ-TV, Mercy Flight Inc. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  28. DiSciullo, John. "Mercy Flight Beacon Of Hope Gala 2019". YouTube. WBBZ-TV. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  29. Nigrelli, Taylor (25 November 2020). "West NHS Students Get Lesson in Adaptability". West Seneca Bee (Vol 40 Issue 52). Bee Publications. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  30. Greenburg, Bob. "Matthew Faulkner- Most Likely to Survive". YouTube. The Brainwaves Video Anthology. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  31. Greenburg, Bob. "Matthew Faulkner - Teachers Make a Difference". YouTube. The Brainwaves Video Anthology. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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