The Cleveland Clinic reports that approximately 1 in 50
Americans, or 5.4 million people, have some form of paralysis.
Ken Kunken broke his neck on October 31, 1970, while making
a tackle during a college football game at Cornell University. The injury
severed his spinal cord, leaving him almost totally paralyzed from the
Ken spent more than nine months in various hospitals and
rehabilitation centers undergoing treatment. In 1971, while still a patient at
the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City, Ken testified before
the United States Senate Health Subcommittee chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy.
Ken returned to Cornell where he completed his Bachelor of
Science degree in Engineering and a Master of Arts degree in Education. He also
earned a Master of Education degree in Psychology from Columbia University.
In 1977, Ken worked as a vocational/rehabilitation counselor
for people with disabilities at Abilities Inc. in Albertson, New York. He
became a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor and made numerous public
presentations on non-discrimination, affirmative action, and employment of the
disabled. Ken was named the Long Island Rehabilitation Association’s
“Rehabilitant of the Year.”
In 1979, Ken was the subject of one of the Reverend Norman
Vincent Peale’s nationally syndicated radio broadcasts, “The American
Ken earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1982 from Hofstra
University’s School of Law. He went to work as an assistant district attorney
in Nassau County, Long Island, where he eventually became a Deputy Bureau Chief
of the County Court Trial Bureau.
In 1996, Ken received the Honorable Thomas E. Ryan Jr. Award
presented by the Court Officers Benevolent Association of Nassau County for
outstanding and dedicated service as an assistant district attorney. In 1999,
Ken was awarded the George M. Estabrook Distinguished Service Award presented
by the Hofstra Alumni Association Inc.
In 2009, Ken became a member of the Board of Directors of
Abilities Inc., and in 2017, he became a member of the Board of Directors for
the parent company of Abilities Inc., the Viscardi Center.
Beginning in 2005, for eight consecutive years, The Ken
Kunken Most Valuable Player Award was presented annually by The Adirondack
Trust Allegiance Bowl in Saratoga Springs, New York, in recognition of Ken’s
personal accomplishments, contributions to society, and extraordinary courage.
In 2020 Ken was inducted into the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of
Fame, as a member of the class of 2019.
For more information: https://kenkunken.com/
Get the book: https://kenkunken.com/buy-the-book/
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