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X{P׈ȣDw@?F'"V1Vfgd|r:ځ#xt;brI/qIyK{9Vd@=5}sJ"W? hWҶ} 5Ǻsq:3M߅IƏWJԧywND899g-=@rb8̍9)CxGRUf`' 0: cܣדRO5(N9@lHrH)c;#+ǸS5` 8R@))YrŞ}+nK*V'^ e+C1T J P69UmR 3xO|cֹ\.Mlu_h0s=ukzs( e%kbL⼋wu]ł >ΌV7$W#g =-Υ;dٖ> xIjܗQ\s0B\PhAPH<"GuLVmGi^1uiKiP1%siHZo!{m!|rָ呓sf?#8+F,i00kPi3ZjVfMe/G*x#TXF' p=3]m.HX+@:Rۂ{sMݏp`W`DNNL =~Jbd֚-!4}xDvs7XVd7]1f[{;Vn9n+)ZǹF6KX$ =N+S^{V6 t1 ۏ/ۏhXJOQ#wx_h"z/ZRG}m[+n x,GT[sEACw4εy@ʏI]úd׉a|\`+WN̎m.qTHy5xM4NVƞd9hbyTE,pPӽfF}kObMHtrCe]^⻨厤9\a⎔ߥ#=Z {rjQ ˞Tc fdgM#tsLZD,ڙ~Xh$a}_Єk`r:V^3]_ŏu UrIsV3!jdb"/jBmQ)74 RIX(KS+W)(d4Da NH%KG?z{ D{X8#4TvPC#T}j}w+TQ2@Oze*I$f? }kc\3^z2$xG5k3X2G=7$v#aʀ<$Bs^(k1 /92+ͯʙk%ROfm9 Sas JFS0s^rXjP<3zQ$=:sژdZ8xѱ֫HpN*~^e[țK)JψcIR2L{^/-x6kҾBne몌Tkc!KA5I üۼM4v2}(78'g{c(s=NvDO(LN:&+nn0uBOμu'"nq (IZ7II]&EjJВ''<ջU aQSKd6M?J{֐]x'8H\ڦˠ$`b??Z(hn!nQ( akk׷6j 0+E>9Pu؁BOZ(jl =re his lungs. Kevin stayed awake one night taking deep breaths to avoid being put on the ventilator but his lungs were filling with fluid. He was put on the ventilator the next morning, At this point, Kevin was unable to speak because of the breathing tube. The drugs he was on while on the ventilator caused terrible nightmares and hallucinations. <br>Kevin's father, Don, recalled,  As each day went by, Kevin got worse and worse. It took three or four days to find the courage to ask the doctor if he thought Kevin would make it. He told me no. Over the last ten years, no one with that condition in that hospital had made it out alive.<br>The truth is that the hospital, at first, did not even want to admit Kevin. Upon admittance even the nurses were not very enthusiastic about caring for their  doomed patient. The first nurse came in and did her duty. As she was about to leave, she heard a knocking sound coming from the bed. It was Kevin. He couldn't talk but he managed to use his hands to request a piece of paper and a pen. Exhausted he wrote the following two words:  Thank you. From then on the nurses would practically fight over who would get to care for Kevin. Every time the nurses would attend him, Kevin would scrawl out his  thank you on a piece of paper.<br> I never thought I was going to die, said Kevin,  but the doctors all thought so. There was never any doubt that I'd get to play. Coach Ralph was one of the very few that nver gave up. I remember he'd tell people that Kevin can do anything he sets his mind to do. He can come back if he wants to. <br>Kevin just kept thinking,  I'm losing. I'm losing. I'm losing. All the tubes, the medications. I just got tired of it and wanted to win for a change. I looked down and saw all the people in the room who had helped me through the years in football, karate and all the things I've done. All the athletics. I looked at myself and they weren't giving up on me. I wasn't about to start then. <br>Mr. Wilson said with emotion,  While Kevin was on the life support machine and the ventilator, he motioned for a piece of paper and wrote the folowing three words: Today I WIN. You could just see in his eyes that he was going to turn it around. From that point on he got better and better. Like just in no time. <br> The next set of blood tests, said Mrs. Wilson,  showed that the kidneys were beginning to kick in. Everything was starting to get a little bit better. Kevin had just decided that he had had it. He was tired of the life support and he was going to fight. <br>Kevin offered,  The power of the mind and your will is incredible whegedy struck. His wife, Jackie, was diagnosed wr 100 podgkins Lymphoma. He decidd to put his athletic career on hold for several months to help her through the trauma of chemotherapy. Brooks was subsequently released by the Rams, and he turned down offers from both the Saints, Cowboys and the Jaguars.<br> As his wife s health began to improve, Brooks signed with the Cardinals (over the Jaguars and the Broncos) in the 2000 season and reunited with his offensive line coach from the Rams, George Warhop. Again Brooks made the final roster; and when the starter at left tackle L.J. Shelton became injured, Brooks saw more playing time.  Shelon went down the first play of