MIRACLE MAN

From football injury to family inspiration

George Diaz

His friends call Darryl Perry the Miracle Man. It’s a perfect fit, reflecting the power of perseverance.

His speech is labored. His motor skills are compromised. He can’t see clearly.

But Darryl Perry doesn’t have time for your pity party. He is too busy enjoying life, embracing his strong faith and constantly filling the room with loud laughter.

It’s the proud and defiant soundtrack of a man who came back from the dead.

“I had always wanted to be a motivational speaker, so I guess God said ‘I am going to give him something to talk about,’ ” Perry said.

Perry’s inspirational journey began on March 15, 2007. After going out with his wife, Nicky, and friends for dinner, Darryl Perry began choking, gasping and foaming at the mouth.

He went into cardiac arrest, losing oxygen to the brain for seven critical minutes. At one point, the paramedics told Nicky Perry there was no hope for her husband. Darryl Perry was lifeless. His heart stopped beating, and he slipped into a condition called cerebral hypoxia.

As the paramedics were about to give up, Nicky Perry insisted they keep trying to pump life back into her husband’s body.

“Keep going!” she screamed.

Nicky Perry’s persistence would save her husband’s life. Paramedics continued to use a defibrillator to jolt Darryl Perry’s heart until they finally detected a heartbeat. Darryl Perry was flown by helicopter to Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Doctors braced Nicky Perry for the worst. Darryl Perry slipped into a coma, and there were few signs of life. But then, unexpectedly, three weeks later he woke up to a new life that would shatter the blueprint of the one that existed before the near-death experience. His weight had dropped from 250 to 146 pounds. The heart attack caused irreparable brain damage, but it did not break his soul.

“The things that I’ve gone through and seen in him motivate me,” said longtime friend Tony Jones. “As tough as it is for him, he’s always reaching out to help and lift someone else up. He’s the Miracle Man in more ways than one.”

Now 52, Darryl Perry uses his tough-man instincts, honed on the football fields of Jones High School and the University of Florida, where he was a bruising fullback and lead blocker for star Emmitt Smith.

Step by step, word by word, Darryl Perry learned to walk and talk again. Although he still has physical limitations, Perry takes life as it comes. He rides a bus to get around town. He cooks for himself – his specialties include salmon, stir fry veggies and crab cakes. He works out regularly at a former teammate’s gym in Longwood, methodically pounding away at the heavy bag and taking it outside to work on agility drills.

And now as a single, divorced father, he still provides a nurturing touch for his three children: two girls, one boy — all Gators, including Austin, a junior walk on.

“Anytime God gracefully wakes me up, I say, ‘OK, God, you mean I got to get in the game again today?’” Darryl Perry said. “God will say, ‘Yep.’ So I’m ready to get in.”

His ultimate game plan is to hit the road as a motivational speaker. He has quite the story to tell. His message is quick and to the point.

“Never quit on anything, find your faith and go with it. You say I can’t do it. I say I can do it.”

Never quit on anything, find your faith and go with it. You say I can’t do it. I say I can do it.

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