Harlem Wizard Teams Up with Local Author

"Mighty" Mike Simmel, a professional basketball player with the Harlem Wizards, has struggled with epilepsy for most of his life. Instead of letting the condition control his life, Simmel has worked hard to overcome it.

Simmel recently teamed up with Wyckoff author Robert Skead to write Mighty Mike Bounces Back, a book based on his life growing up with epilepsy, to inspire children to rise above obstacles in their own lives.

"Obviously, it's for kids with epilepsy," Simmel said. "But it's for all kids. It's about overcoming adversity."

Diagnosed with epilepsy at age 2, Simmel suffered from drop seizures, which made him fall down, during his early years. Unable to do many things—including skipping or hopping on one foot—Simmel struggled with coordination and motor skills even after a new medication helped him with the seizures.

Then, when Simmel was 8, his father gave him a basketball. It was a gift that would change his life. Simmel began taking the ball with him everywhere, and soon joined a league to play with other children.

"I started dribbling the basketball everywhere I went and good things started happening," Simmel said.

Despite still suffering from occasional seizures, Simmel kept up with basketball. It was at age 16, while away at camp, that he had a particularly bad seizure and blacked-out. Simmel said it was this experience that first made him want to help children.

Now a 10-year veteran of the Wizards, winner of several awards and a motivational speaker at the Epilepsy Foundation and more than 450 basketball camps, Simmel finally decided it was time to tell his story. He and his friend, Wyckoff-based children's author Robert Skead, worked together to write Mighty Mike Bounces Back. Skead is the author of five other books.

According to Skead, the book was picked up by the first publisher they sent it to, Magination Press, which is the publishing arm of the American Psychological Association. Skead said he hopes children will benefit from the book's lessons.

Mighty Mike Bounces Back is available now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.