Most Likely to Survive

Most Likely to Survive: The Story of Matthew Faulkner's Miraculous Recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury is a non-fiction work written by Joe Kirchmyer and the book's subject, Matt Faulkner. The book was released in March 2013 and details a car accident in which Faulkner was a passenger. This occurred just a few months prior to his graduation from West Seneca West Senior High School (WSW) in 2009. Faulkner suffered from a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) which left him in a coma for nearly two months. He spent three weeks on life support in the ICU at the Erie County Medical Center. He walked out of the hospital after 103 days and then received his high school diploma from West Seneca West just 12 days later. The book's title is a reference to Faulkner being named "Most Likely to Succeed" by his high school graduating class shortly before the accident.
The book details Faulkner's life leading up to the accident, including his family life and having earned a place in the top ten percent of his high school graduating class, as well as admission to the all-college honors program at Canisius College[1]. A large majority of the book covers his hospitalization, rehabilitation, and his life in the years after the injury, including starting school at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and working towards his college graduation in 2013.
The book closes with a personal note from Faulkner about his aspirations for a new approach to TBI rehabilitation, including "our society to reach some type of recognition that brain injury does happen, and that we need to do more for the victims, especially the young people who suffer from such an awful occurrence." He goes on to establish his ambition of seeing better TBI rehabilitation and outcomes.
Release.
On March 23, 2013, the book was released with the documentary film, "Recovery" (2016), at the film's "grand Buffalo screening" which took place at University at Buffalo (UB) Center for the Arts[4]. The documentary film, which also documents Faulkner's accident, TBI and life after, was first test screened in Buffalo, New York in 2013, applied to film festivals in 2014, premiered at a film festival in 2015, and became publicly available in 2016. Additionally, the film has streamed for free on FilmFreeway since September 7, 2017.
"Recovery" was directed and produced by Ryan Monolopolus, who also graduated from WSW alongside Faulkner and remained friends with him following high school. Monolopolus was interviewed by the West Seneca Central School District for their Spring 2017 newsletter, and indicated that the film's debut screening at UB was "the largest screening for a student work ever at UB." 
According to Monolopolus' resume, the film was allegedly selected as the "Best Documentary" at the "Speak Here, First" film festival in 2015, although no other reference to this can be found.
According to Monolopolus' website, "Recovery" was shot in collaboration with Mercy Flight and Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), and includes footage of a reenacted helicopter flight to ECMC, giving a portrayl of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) air transport that was available to Faulkner to rush him to the hospital. The film had an approximate budget of $15,000.
Kirchmyer and Faulkner held several book signings after the initial release, notably one with a screening of the documentary film, "Recovery" at Canisius College in Regis North. The book remains available on Amazon.com in both paperback and eBook formats.
Community Engagement.
Prior to the release of the book and documentary film, Faulkner was interviewed by Melissa Holmes of WGRZ, a local news station in Buffalo, NY. Holmes interviewed both Faulkner and Monolopolus for the TV news feature in the Canisius College library. Monolopolus told Holmes that "Matt's recovery can be used as an example of how people move forward in multiple calibers. Not just from a medical injury, but how do people move on from anything that may be traumatic or jarring in their lives?" 
In describing the experience and how the book and documentary could have an impact on others, Faulkner said that he hopes other people "...can get inspiration to know that what they think may be impossible could very well be possible."
Since the release of the book and documentary, Faulkner has spoken publicly on the topics of TBI, rehabilitation, motivation and recovery. In 2014, Monolopolus produced several TV ad spots for Mercy Flight, including one which featured Faulkner describing his accident and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) service provided by Mercy Flight.
In 2018, Faulkner was a featured guest of Amy Zellmer on her podcast, "Faces of TBI", during which he described the book and documentary as a "launching point" for him to share his experience with others, including students and nurses. He also indicated some of the past opportunities he has had to speak to groups, including at the 2015 WSW National Honor Society induction ceremony, as well as speaking to a graduate level physical therapy class at UB each year since 2014.
In 2019, he delivered the commencement address at both the West Seneca West (WSW), and East (WSE) Senior High School graduations, commenting that he works on "community awareness projects where I go to groups and speak about my experiences and rehabilitation and my experience with my brain injury and things like that. I’ve spoken to groups of nurses and other clinicians. I go to speak [with] students at UB in physical therapy every year.”
Later in 2019, Faulkner participated in a video feature in support of Mercy Flight, describing his accident, the EMS support, his recovery and motivations. The video was featured at the 2019 "Beacon of Hope Gala" to raise money for their causes.
In November 2020, Faulkner gave a virtual presentation to the seniors in National Honor Society (NHS) at WSW. Presenting as both an alumnus and a former NHS board member, he shared his experience with adapting to significant change during his senior year of high school, reminding them to remain flexible with their plans as they are likely to change with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December 2020, Faulkner was recorded for two videos for the Brainwaves Video Anthology channel on YouTube. In the videos, Faulkner shared his story, and how he hopes to have an impact on the lives of others, just as so many others helped him.