Kunken family filled with pride as miracle triplets head to college
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. -- Ken Kunken was injured in a Cornell college football game decades ago and has been a quadriplegic ever since.
Now, the inspirational Nassau County attorney's miracle triplets are graduating high school and on their way to college.
"At the beginning of my junior year at Cornell, which was in 1970, I broke my neck and severed my spinal cord making a tackle on a kickoff," Ken Kunken said.
Ken Kunken, of Rockville Centre, is a quadriplegic and the father of 18-year-old triplets.
"It sure is a miracle of science," he said.
The miracle began when Anna Blazjczyk arrived from Poland to study.
"I came to this country in 1998 primarily to immerse myself in English," she said.
She was assigned to be Ken Kunken's aide.
"I remember this elating feeling when I was leaving his apartment that was just, I have to know more about this man," she said.
They fell in love and were married.
Impossibilities turned to realties with sperm retrieval and invitro fertilization.
"The status quo has been kind of completely thrown out the window with immigrant mom, paralyzed dad, and not just one or two kids, no, three people all at once," said triplet James Kunken.
The triplets, highly accomplished in marital arts and academics, have been inseparable best friends. CBS first met them in 2006.
"Once you hear our name, Kunken, you are like oh! The three of them. Joey, Jimmy, Timmy," triplet Joe Kunken said.
"They've made us as proud as we can be," Ken Kunken said.
Ken Kunken never looked back after his injury, going from strapping athlete to life in a wheelchair.
"Which was well before the Americans with Disabilities Act," he said.
Related story: Students, Nassau County leaders celebrate Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary
Ken Kunken earned three master's degrees, then went to law school, becoming a respected Nassau County assistant district attorney.
"I feel very good about the path that I've taken," he said.
The triplets are about to head off to three different colleges. Tim will attend Syracuse University, pursing a path related to documentary film-making; James is attending SUNY Morrisville, majoring in renewable energy, and Joe is heading to his dad's alma mater, Cornell, to major in physics with a minor in history.
They all attended their father's high school.
As the triplets prepare to graduate, Ken and Anna celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, and, after colleagues convinced Ken to share his life story, his book will be published in the fall.
"Our dad's sheer honesty, wisdom and kindness, that is what it's all about. Being a father, rather than just having to play catch with your sons," Tim Kunken said.
"And I can't believe how truly fortunate I am," Ken Kunken said.