Mikell Brings Recovery Story to Council Race

Mount Pleasant heads to the polls Tuesday, November 8, to fill four seats on the town council. Three incumbents and six challengers are running for the at-large posts. This week, Mount Pleasant Patch will profile all the candidates.

William “Tate” Mikell was the sort of police officer known for his heroic acts while walking a beat for the Charleston Police Department.

“My first week on the job I ran down a suspect on a bicycle,” Mikell said. “When I thought I wasn’t going to be able to keep up, I stuck my retractable baton in the spokes of his tire and arrested him.”

But that was before a traumatic brain aneurism left him completely paralyzed on his left side. In 2005, just a few years after graduating from the Citadel, the Mount Pleasant native was a shell of his former self.

Now 33 and recovered from many of the physical impairments caused by his injury, Mikell is campaigning for a seat on the Mount Pleasant Town Council.

“Every day he surprises us,” said Marsha Mikell, Tate’s mother. “Doctors said he wasn’t supposed to survive and then they said that he wasn’t ever going to get out of a wheelchair.”

Read profiles of all the candidates.

But in October Mikell ran his first 5k race. He uses his recovery as part of the reason voters should send him to public office.

“I’ve worked very hard to get where I am today, and I will work just as hard as a town councilman,” Mikell said.

Just learning how to walk took years of physical rehabilitation. It took a month for Mikell to recover memories and regain the same mental capacity he had prior to his injury, he said.

Today he still walks with the assistance of a leg brace, and though his speech is slowed, he impressed voters at recent appearances. He drew applause last week with his inspiring story at a League of Women Voters Charleston forum.

While he insists he is a serious candidate, he hopes even if he doesn’t win, his appearance on the ballot is educating the town and inspiring other people with disabilities.

“I hope I don’t jump out and steal the spotlight from anyone, but I hope it lets people know that as long as they work hard and have faith in themselves and in the Lord that they can overcome many obstacles,” Mikell said.

On the council, he hopes he can provide a unique perspective.

“I hope I can educate the non-disabled council about the obstacles many people in the disabled community face,” Mikell said.

But he’s not a single-issue candidate. As a former police officer, he believes strongly that the town should make good on promises to provide lifetime health insurance to municipal employees.

“The town should find that money somehow,” he said. “The police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers and other employees deserve it.”

In the community, Mikell is finding support, he said, and he’s upbeat about how he will fair in Tuesday’s nine-candidate council race.

“I’ve worked very hard, but failure is an option,” he said. “But I am someone who learns from my mistakes and running again is always an option.”

No matter what happens, his mother said he is inspiring people all across the state and warming her heart with his determination.

“His injury was probably the most traumatic thing that could have happened, but the aftermath has been the most rewarding experience,” Marsha Mikell said. “In the disabled community, he’s a role model. He’s the reason I get up every day.”

ABOUT MIKELL
http://tatefortowncouncil.wordpress.com/
Age: 33
Personal: Single
Professional: former Charleston police officer
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Citadel: Military College of South Carolina
Why he’s running: “I was a City of Charleston police officer until June 13, 2005, when I suffered a ruptured brain aneurism, which caused my disability. With some very hard work with a personal trainer … I was able to run a 5k race this past weekend. I hope that my willingness to do hard work will benefit the citizens of the Town of Mount Pleasant if I am voted onto town council.”