Jeff Pearlman was young. Sex was new and exciting. He didn’t think about the consequences.

And he spoke to local news reporters about the chastity trend that, as we know, turned into a nationwide movement that persists to this day, with nobody doing it humanity dying off. Years later, Jeff has posted his greatest shame (with pop-up shame bubbles) on Youtube, where it belongs.

Yep, it features a young Brian Hickey and the ageless Larry Kane. Also, Jeff — now an accomplished sportswriter — wasn’t even a virgin by the time he did the interview, according to the blurb he posted with the video. Read about the video on his blog and why he decided to post it after all these years, here.

Photo | Michael T. Regan

He’s back.

This week, he tells his miraculous tale of survival in Philadelphia Magazine. Hickey combines what he remembers with what he pieced together from witness accounts of the time he was unconscious.

It’s a pretty moving piece and there are lots of highlights, but I’ll pick out a few choice passages to whet your appetite for the full, gripping tale:

From the night of the accident:

The fire department report, the accuracy of which every last medic vouched for, reads, “When asked if anything besides his head was bothering him, [Hickey] started using foul language … stating that he was going to find us all when he got up.�

Translation No. 1: I didn’t want, or need, to fucking go to the fucking hospital.

Translation No. 2: My brain was already so scrambled that I had lost the ability to work the control-myself option.

His recollection of first regaining consciousness:

“You had no emotion,� my wife tells me. “You were totally flat. There was nothing we could do.�

I saw the faces of people visiting me, the anguish in their expressions, but it didn’t register. I didn’t know why people were coming from Maryland or Washington State or San Francisco to see me.

From the early stages of his rehab:

The medical reports stated, “He’s a risk to himself and others.� My bed was encased in netting, and a nursing aide would sit nearby all night to make sure I didn’t try to stand up and walk around — I’d earned the red “danger� tag affixed to my wheelchair by trying to do that once. …

I was coming around, in a way: When nobody was looking, I’d cover my face with a pillow and bawl my eyes out, not over the hole in my throat, but out of fear that I’d never write again; to my ridiculously confused mind, that was the equivalent of widowing my bride. But it meant that things were starting to click.

I won’t spoil the big conclusion — the part where Hickey contemplates what he’ll do when he meets the guy/girl who hit him (and he is convinced he will one day) — you’ve got to read it yourself for that.

In November, when Doron Taussig and Mike Newall wrote about the accident, they speculated about how Hickey would write about it himself. It’s nothing short of truly, truly wonderful that he has.

Related: Brian Hickey’s blog,  Facebook and Twitter.

Previously: City Paper’s coverage of Brian Hickey’s recovery.

So I followed up with Hickey , post-surgery. He’s a bit groggy (gone under twice in a few months now), but in good spirits, and with his skull whole again, pretty close to fully recovered (mentally he’s all there; he’s got a bit more physical therapy to do, is my understanding).

Before going in to surgery, Hickey had always been real careful to refer to after the surgery in uncertain terms — “if” I wake up, he’d say. “That was just, let’s not say Hickey’s altogether all the way back yet … I didn’t want people thinking I was all the way back, because I wasn’t.”

Well, now he’s close.

What you see here is the before-surgery picture from his blog, Phillyblunt. After the jump is the after.

(more…)

Not only back to writing, but now back to writing prolifically, Brian Hickey takes to philly.com to make the case that, man, do we need healthcare reform:

After I was released from inpatient care at Philadelphia’s Magee Rehabilitation in January, I was forced to wait more than six weeks for outpatient physical, occupational, and cognitive therapy. For context, more than two weeks of waiting risks regression on all three fronts.

The fact that we need reform is the take-away, but this isn’t just one guy railing against his insurer. Brian is fair-minded here, giving credit where it’s due. There’s just not enough due to justify the system we have.

You know, I’ve been fortunate enough never to need my medical insurance too badly, but you hear enough stories like this and you start to feel like no insurance is good enough insurance to actually be insured, if that makes sense.

Listen, I don’t like my taxes going up, and a trash-pickup fee would have resulted in mounds of unidentifiable-as-Hickey’s garbage strewn across the next block over. But tomorrow, Nutter will explain that he tried his darnedest to protect jobs and the most-necessary programs while targeting the city-employee pension-and-health-cost drains. Though he ran on a no-tax-hike platform, we all should recognize that Nutter has little choice in the unanticipated matter. So, neither do we.

Brian also predicts that some council members will get “exploitative.” Lord knows I’ll be looking forward to his columns on the matter if he deems that to be the case.

On Nov. 28, I was nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver while walking to catch the train home. More than two months later, there’s scant information coming from the public, and the person has yet to fess up. It’s time for that to change.

Dan Gross reports that Brian Hickey returned to his East Falls home on Friday for the first time since he was gravely injured in a hit-and-run accident on Nov. 28th — another big step in his incredible recovery.

Says Brian: “I wouldn’t have been able to go home so quickly without the Magee therapists who pushed me harder by the day.”

In addition to the good news, this article is one of the few opportunities you’ll have to see Brian Hickey’s name in the same story as Patti Labelle’s.

I also just texted Brian to get a report on how his reunion with his dog, Charlie Dawg, went, after, seven weeks apart. He says:

“She sensed there was something wrong that kept me out of the house for seven weeks. Didn’t stop her from following me around with wagging tail though.”

UPDATE:

Charlie Dawg

Photo | Michael T. Regan

You may have read about the amazing progress Brian Hickey has been making. While he has lots of rehab and strength-regaining ahead of him, the fact is that less than a month since waking up, Brian is walking, talking and making football picks on his Facebook. And that’s just astounding.

City Paper is holding a benefit for Brian on Saturday which is already way-way sold out. Based on our RSVP count, the Pen and Pencil club can hold no more guests, so if you have not already RSVP’d and were planning on showing up, I have to warn you that you will likely not be able to get in. However, because this is all about a cause, we are still accepting donations via PayPal.

Go to PayPal and send your donation to paypal @ citypaper.net.

CP is throwing a benefit for our friend and former colleague Brian Hickey on Sat., Jan. 10, 7 p.m. till 10 p.m., at the Pen & Pencil club. We’ve been following Brian’s ordeal recovering from a hit-and-run we’ve been following on the blog and in print. His progress has been amazing, but there’s a long road ahead and he and his wife need all the help you can give them.

In case you cannot read the flier fine print (or are a spider):

The Philadelphia City Paper and The Pen & Pencil Club invite you to join us for a beef and beer benefit to support fellow journalist Brian Hickey.

Pen & Pencil Club
1522 Latimer St.
Philadelphia, Pa. 19102

Jan. 10, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets: $50
100 percent of the proceeds go directly to the Hickey family.

Please reserve tickets in advance at hickeybenefit@citypaper.net

Send checks payable to City Paper, and mail to:

City Paper
123 Chestnut Street, Third Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Food and beer donated by the Pen & Pencil Club
Must be 21 or over, or accompanied by an adult

Photo | Pat Rapa

A brief Hickey update, because Brian’s ready to start updating people on his own: I stopped by to see Brian on Friday, and he’s up and talking and very much himself. He’s at Magee, doing some rehab, and I’m sure he’s going to kick ass. Best wishes to him and his wife, Angie.

Ed: Read The Clog’s coverage of Hickey’s horrifying hit and run and his subsequent recovery, as well as Taussig and Mike Newall’s Dec. 4 story on the accident.

Facebook

It appears that Brian Hickey’s recovery took a giant, unexpected leap forward: 16 hours ago Brian posted the above update to his Facebook via text message.

According to Angie:

Photo by Michael T. Regan

Our buddy Brian is going to be making the trip today from the Trauma stepdown unit of Cooper Hospital to Magee Rehab in Center City. This is good news both in terms of Brian’s impressive recovery (he’s been communicating a bit with an alphabet chart) and for his wife, Angie, who’s been having to make constant hauls from their home in East Falls to Camden for what were limited visiting hours at Cooper. Keep it up, Bri.

Photo | Michael T. Regan

Catching up on yesterday’s updates, here is the latest from Brian’s Facebook:

posted yesterday morning:

Brian Hickey is doing well today. He had his eyes open most of the day and responded to commands such as thumbs up, two fingers up, and lifting up his arm for the bp cuff.

This all sounds like progress, which is all we can hope for. Well, that and that the person responsible steps forward.

Read Jeff Pearlman’s column in Metro.