50 People To Know: Paralyzed Hockey Player Mikey Nichols Perseveres

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- In this week's 50 People to Know, we share the story of Mikey Nichols.

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The 20-year-old loves being the underdog.

That's how he carried himself out on the ice as an "undersized" high school hockey player. What he lacked in size he made up for in determination and heart.

A freak accident on the ice -- a check into the boards and an awkward fall -- left him paralyzed from the neck down.

Web Extra: Mike Nichols, Paralyzed Monroe Hockey Player, Shares Journey On WFAN

Years later, now almost 21 years old, Nichols is using that determination and heart in his fight to walk again. He's also engaged in a major fundraising effort with the Christopher Reeve Foundation to raise money and awareness for a new breakthrough for paralysis victims, called "The Big Idea."

Studies underway using electrical devices implanted into the spines of four spinal chord injury patients are beginning to yield remarkable results, and Nichols is doing his part to let the world know about it.

This coming Friday night, WFAN, the New Jersey Devils and the Christopher Reeve Foundation will be holding the third annual Mike Nichols charity hockey game, with former NHL stars coming out to play alongside the morning radio team of Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason at the Prudential Center in Newark.

For more information on the event and how you can help, please click here.