The Charlie Davies Miracle

April 11th, 2010 | by: Dave Martinez |

Charlie_Davies_84718f The determination of the human spirit should never be undersold. Especially when there is a World Cup roster slot on the line.

Charlie Davies nearly died October 13th, 2009. After being involved in a serious car accident, which included the death of the driver in his car, Davies was written off. His career, his World Cup prospects, his overall well being; all of it was put into question.

The young American striker wound up going through a series of surgeries immediately after the accident. These included five hours of surgery to repair a lacerated bladder, fractures to his tibia and femur in his right leg, plus a facial and a left elbow fracture. And that was only the beginning of the countless procedures that would begin Davies long journey towards health.

He trained hard for months, pushing himself to be ready. He had worked so hard to make the most of his opportunities up to that point. You see, before the United States magical run in the Confederations Cup, Davies was an after thought in the plans of his countries national team. His play was solid at Hammarby, where he was already being showered by the local love, but for some time, it was not enough to garner the attention of US Head Coach Bob Bradley. When he was finally given a shot, he fought hard not only to impress in the short term, but to force himself into the long term plans of the team. And as always, Davies sheer will and determination was center stage for the most significant tournament play his country had ever seen.

He did the impossible; he secured his starting spot.

You can only imagine, then, how Davies felt when he nearly lost it all only a few months later. And that makes it the more surprising that, two months shy of the World Cup, the young striker is aiming to do the impossible yet again.

In typical Davies style, he is proving the naysayers wrong. Reports out of Sochaux suggest Davies is roughly three weeks away from seeing playing time. Three weeks away from putting near death behind him. Now a new journey begins for #9 as he aims to once again showcase his talents on the biggest sporting stage known to man; the World Cup.

Miracles really do happen.

Share your thoughts on the incredible journey of Charlie Davies below.

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wob

Great player, great person!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ian-Rose/603669376 Ian Rose

Even if he doesn’t start, if he gets one minute on the pitch, that will be amazing in itself. Great story, especially to come out of such a terrible one.
http://www.dipity.com/stevepro Steve

Amazing story Dave, thanks.

I hope he can make waves in South Africa that would be a great story.
Jose

His recovery truly is impressive. Hopefully, Salvador Cabañas recovers in time for Paraguay… it would be two great recovery stories for this World Cup.
http://www.nevercaptainnickybutt.blogspot.com BMatthews

Yo Dave – This got retweeted by Charlie Davies himself. Baller.
Jankarlo

Lets go CD9!! we believe in you!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jen-Clark-Lebendig/651716010 Jen Clark Lebendig

Charlie Davies is AMAZING! I will forever be following his life and career.
John Kumm

It’s great to see what someone like Charlie can manage in terms of single minded determination.
Let’s all hope that he can now manage to really succeed in supporting his country’s efforts in the World Cup.
http://onlinesoccernewz.com Melanie

A player like Davies restores your faith in soccer players as a whole. No flash, no big hoopla, just a guy who really, really wants to play.
http://redbulls.theoffside.com Dave Martinez

BMatt – thanks for letting me know! Very humbling.

And the piece writes itself. Davies is an incredibly inspiring story.
Ezra

Just remember: someone *did* in fact die in this crash. Was her “human spirit” any less determined than his? We should never let the living overshadow the dead.
http://scotland.worldcupblog.org Ian

Ezra – No one here is saying that. Yes, it bears reminding that someone did die in the crash, but we can appreciate the struggle that Davies has gone through to not only recover but return to life as a professional athlete without taking anything away from the tragedy of the death.
Ezra

Ian, I’ll agree that his recovery and return have been amazing, but we also shouldn’t forget that alcohol was involved. This isn’t like Lance Armstrong recovering from cancer.
Stan

@Ezra nobody is under minding any of what you are saying. But the past is the past you will never be able to change what happen or why it happen. The girl will be remembered yes but also being amazed at charlie davies story can co exist as well.
Ezra

The girl’s name was Ashley J. Roberta.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

Get ‘em Charlie!!
http://www.silverlakesoccer.org RobStyles

This really is an unbelievable story!
James

While I am definately impressed by his work to recover and make it back on the team, I’m still not happy about how he got injured in the first place. He was out well past player curfew, the car he was in had a possibly intoxicated driver (never saw any test results but remember it being speculated), and the car was going way way to fast for that road (seriously how many times have you seen a car going the speed limit or less break up on impact like that car did). Yea his recovery is a great story but how about being a good role model and not do things that put you in bad situations like that in the first place.
thomas murphy

this has a espn tvmovie written all over it… i know its very sad that someone died in this car accident and alcohol may have been involved but this is a world cup blog and the purpose of the blog is to focus on the soccer aspect of things