'We talked about football and life'

The entire South Jersey football community is grieving the loss of Shykem "Shaka" Lawrence, 18, the former Woodrow Wilson High safety who died last Friday of complications from paralysis.

Hundreds are expected to attend Lawrence's viewing tonight in Camden. One of the visitors will be Adam Taliaferro, who befriended the Wilson player after Lawrence broke his neck in a scrimmage on Aug. 25, 2006.

Taliaferro, a former Eastern football standout, and Lawrence had an unwanted connection: Both were paralyzed while making tackles.

As it turned out, Taliaferro's injury, suffered when he was a freshman at Penn State in 2000, wasn't as severe as Lawrence's. About 31/2 months after his injury, Taliaferro was able to walk out of Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia.

Taliaferro, now a student at the Rutgers-Camden law school, frequently visited or chatted on the phone with Lawrence, who was paralyzed from the neck down.

"We talked about a lot of things, but never the injuries," said Taliaferro, who, coincidentally, was on the sideline watching Woodrow Wilson scrimmage Eastern when Lawrence was injured in 2006. "We talked about football and life. ... The first time I met him at Magee, I expected to see someone with his head down, but he was excited to meet me and I was excited to meet him. Every time I saw him, he was always upbeat. I've heard people say there were times when he was down, but I never saw it."

Taliaferro said he was "shocked" when he heard of Lawrence's death.

Eastern coach Dan Spittal had the same reaction.

Spittal and his wife made numerous trips to the hospital to visit Lawrence.

"Kathie and I are deeply saddened," Spittal said. "God bless his soul.

"The thing I'll remember the most about Shykem is that big smile he always had when we visited him at the hospital. He was always making jokes and talking about football. He was in dire straits, but he had just a great attitude, which shocked us more than anything."

Woodrow Wilson coach Luther Howard and his players and staff will attend tomorrow's service before their 2 p.m. home game against Northern Burlington. Lawrence's teammates will wear their Wilson jerseys to the service, Howard said.

"Every day we speak a little about Shykem and life itself, and I try to comfort the kids as much as I can," said Howard, adding that the players will wear a decal of Lawrence's No. 5 on their helmets for the rest of the season. "They've been through a lot and they deal with it."

A lawsuit on the injury is pending.

The viewing will be tonight from 6 to 9 at the May Funeral Home, 1001 S. Fourth St., Camden.

Tomorrow's service will be held at the First Nazarene Baptist Church, 1500 S. Eighth St., Camden. A viewing will be held from 9 to 10:50 a.m., followed by a funeral service from 11 a.m. to noon.

Interment will take place at the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Route 130 in Burlington at 1 p.m.

Donations in Lawrence's memory can be made to the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, P.O. Box 8232, Turnersville, N.J. 08012. The foundation (www.taliaferrofoundation.org), which is helping to pay for Lawrence's funeral expenses, assists athletes who suffer spinal injuries.