Rutgers legend Eric LeGrand receives big surprise with assist from Greg Schiano

Eric LeGrand entered the JFK Rehabilitation Center in Edison on Wednesday expecting to stay in the background. He had received a call a month earlier asking him to make an appearance at a ceremony at the hospital, where they were unveiling a room for spinal cord patients. Having been treated there on multiple occasions in the years since suffering his own life-changing injury in a Rutgers-Army football game 13 years ago, LeGrand obliged, happy to partake in the day’s festivities. But as he made the final turn toward his destination, something seemed off: there was a big crowd of people at the end of the hallway and they were all waiting, staring right at him. LeGrand’s suspicions only arose when he got to the door of the room and saw his college coach Greg Schiano pop up on the other side of it. “I was like, what is going on in there?” LeGrand said. “Then Coach pops up and I’m like, ‘all right, there’s something more to this!” After getting a handle on the situation, joking that there were “a lot of people here” after seeing news cameras and a dozen hospital officials, he learned his instincts were correct. A black towel blocking a plaque on the nearby wall was soon removed, unveiling a sign that read: “Eric LeGrand Spinal Cord Injury Patient Care Room.” Intended as a surprise, the plan worked to perfection. LeGrand was stunned. “It’s just incredible,” he said. Here's a look at Greg Schiano surprising Eric LeGrand and the moment the plaque reading "Eric LeGrand Spinal Cord Injury Patient Care Room" was unveiled: https://t.co/GscdEBQoHY pic.twitter.com/4uzsgbaSIW — Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf) June 14, 2023 A major reason for the occasion was by LeGrand’s side throughout the ceremony. Greg and Christy Schiano recently made a $250,000 donation to the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, which is located at Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center, and had the room it helped build be named in LeGrand’s honor. After LeGrand arrived, the pair met outside the room and collectively took in the moment before entering inside alongside with Christy and LeGrand’s mother Karen. They looked around what Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Bob Garrett called a “transformative” addition, one that is “state-of-the-art” and will “reinvigorate” the hospital’s spinal cord treatment program with technology that LeGrand praised as “absolutely amazing.” Schiano said the opportunity to help arose a month earlier, when he received a call from Joyce Hendricks, the President and Chief Development Officer of the Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation and a “big Rutgers supporter.” He spoke with Christy and the two quickly decided it would be “something cool to do for Eric.” “He’s done so much for so many people, this is just a small way to recognize him and have something that’s dedicated to him,” Schiano said. “It never gets old. When you’ve coached as long as I have, you coach thousands of players, and he’s one of the special ones.” LeGrand later teased Schiano, asking “you couldn’t even give me a hint or something?” But in the end, the surprise made for a special moment and an honor LeGrand does not take lightly. “To now see my name here on the wall, these are the moments I like coming to the hospital,” LeGrand said. “I’m so excited for the people who will use that room because it will help them get through the rehabilitation process. To use my name as inspiration, that’s what I’m here for. Each and every day, what you see is what you get. I wake up with a smile on my face and I’m excited to attack life because I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of this injury. I’m just so happy to have so many people supporting me and wishing me well. I take this as a responsibility to keep on pushing, keep on moving forward as the research continues to grow. I’ve been telling Coach, I promised him that I’d keep my body ready for when that cure does come, because it’s going to happen one day.”