Kevin Reilly

Speaker Profile

• Former NFL player who had a career-ending amputation when he was 25.
• Motivational speaker (kreilly.com)
• Uses his own life as a lesson on how all of us can prevail from bad luck, adversity and pain to find the very best in ourselves.

Kevin Reilly was on top of the world in his 20s: an NFL player for his boyhood team, 3 young children, a sky's-the-limit future. But his NFL career was cut short and his life forever changed in 1975 when he was diagnosed with a rare scar-tissue tumor (desmoid tumor, also known as "aggressive fibromatosis"). To halt the spread of cancer, Kevin's left arm and a large portion of his shoulder were amputated, along with 5 ribs. It's called a forequarter amputation, and it sunk him into a deep depression. Kevin shook off the negative thoughts and went on to do things that make you marvel at the strength of the human spirit when confronted with a life-altering challenge. Kevin uses his own life as a lesson on how all of us can prevail from bad luck, adversity and pain to find the very best in ourselves.

• Overcoming loss. Keep in mind I wasn't the average guy on the street. I fell really far from being a professional athlete who was really proud of my body and being in shape to now missing most of the left side of my body.
• After the amputation. I worked hard at rehabilitation to overcome the limitations the experts said I would have. I was told about all the things I wouldn't be able to do, simple things like tying a tie. I'll never forget this well-meaning hospital volunteer who was also an amputee telling me in my hospital room that you can't tie a tie one-handed. "You'll never be able to tie your tie again. It can't be done one-handed. Believe me, I've been trying for 25 years," he told me. "You'll need to use a clip-on." In 2 months, I was tying my own tie one-handed. I'm also an avid runner and enjoy golf, 2 of the things people told me would be impossible after my surgery.

• Consistent persistence. The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. If you combine that belief with consistent persistence, somewhere deep down you have the gumption, you have the courage, you have the fortitude to make things better. Don't quit on anything unless you try it 3 times. You might not reach that goal, but you'll come a lot closer than the average person if you continue to go at it.
• Overcoming obstacles. As a result of losing my arm, I've got this tremendous opportunity now of going around the country as a motivational speaker. I get to talk to people about overcoming obstacles. If I can help people see that there's light at the end of the tunnel, and that sometimes bad things happen that result in very good future endeavors, then I want to get that message out to everybody. Whatever your obstacle, believe you can overcome it. Set a goal and do something every day to get closer to reaching that goal. So many people feel like they're victims, and they're waiting. Why wait? What are you doing to better yourself?
• Remember the 4 F's. Faith, family, friends and fortitude. The human spirit is tougher than anything that can happen. Why do we wait until a crisis situation to call on the spirit that's in every one of us? Tough times don't last. Tough people do. Never give up — no matter now many times life knocks us down.
• Final judgment day. Wouldn't it be funny if your God said to you, "Here's the deal. I'm going to count the number of times you got knocked down, and I'm going to count the number of times you got back up. And I know I gave you some challenges, but if you got up one more time than you got knocked down and you had faith, that's all I asked. That was the game." If you got up off the mat of life one more time than you got knocked down, and if you brought another human being or 2 up with you, would there be any all-merciful God that would keep you out of the gates of heaven? I don't think so.