The son of Logan County Commissioner and Basketball Legend Willie Akers says his dad is anxious to get home.
Akers has been in Atlanta for months undergoing rehabilitation after being seriously injured in a fall at the Charleston Civic Center earlier this year.
“I would say that he’s excited and ready to come home,” said Darren Akers, Willie’s son. “The thing about it is everybody has been so nice, not only in Logan, but the state and even in the nation. They’ve been very, very nice to my dad and my family.”
Willie Akers, 75, will come home on Friday.
Darren says, since late February when the fall happened, his dad has made “significant” improvement.
Akers fractured his C6 vertrebra and underwent surgery a week later in Charleston. He was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta in March and later moved to the outpatient treatment site he will leave later this week.
“He is able to walk a little bit with my mom trailing along behind, holding on to him with a seatbelt type thing. His mind is great. His spirits are good. He’s working very hard,” Darren said on Wednesday’s “MetroNews Talkline.”
“I know that’s where the competitor in him is coming out and he’s getting better, but he still has a long ways to go.”
Darren Akers says his dad will be using a wheelchair, so the family has purchased a new van that is equipped to handle that wheelchair. Work is also being done on the Akers home, this week, to make it handicapped accessible.
Willie Akers will return to Atlanta, later this year, for another more than month long round of rehab.