(Buoniconto, Marc) Marc Buoniconti was the youngest of three children born to Nick Buoniconti, a Hall of Fame linebacker for the Miami Dolphins. By his own admission, Marc pushed the limit in everything he did, from drugs to skipping school to never backing down from a dare. Marc excelled in all sports, but particularly in football, and, despite a spotty academic record, he earned a full scholarship to play at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. It was there in October, 1985 that Marc, then a sophomore, suffered a dislocation of the C-3, 4 vertebrae and a severe spinal cord injury that would leave him paralyzed from the shoulders down. His rehabilitation included learning how to breathe without a ventilator and mastering the breath-controlled wheelchair that provides his only mobility. Marc earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Miami and then took on the driving purpose in his life—to help those suffering from catastrophic injury—as ambassador and now president of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and The Buoniconti Fund. Undefeated: From Tragedy to Triumph (Post Hill Press) recounts Buoniconti’s journey to turn catastrophe into a life of purpose.
