"He’s alive! He’s ALIVE!"
Those are the first words American Idol sensation STEFANO LANGONE recalls hearing as rescue workers rushed to his side after a horrific car accident shattered his body – and his life. Stefano suffered two broken arms, a fractured pelvis and other serious injuries in May 2009 when a drunk driver plowed head-on into his vehicle near his Kent, Wash., home.
That near-fatal accident was the beginning of a long, tough road back for the pint-size, 22-year-old singer, who also went through his own agonizing drug-and-booze arrests before finally straightening out his life.
The gifted performer consistently impressed "Idol" viewers and judges. "I think you have real star quality. You have movie-star good looks," Jennifer Lopez declared after his powerful rendition of Marvin Gaye‘s "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." And he became a wild card pick for the Final 13 with his sensational performance of "I Need You Now."
But his greatest triumph is his amazing comeback from the highway disaster. Stefano says he’ll never forget the steel-crushing accident and awakening to hear a fireman shouting in amazement to an EMT that he had survived the wreck.
According to court documents obtained by The ENQUIRER, the driver, Jacob A. Sheppard, now 25, had consumed shots of vodka and rum as well as several Coronas and an "energy beer" called Sparks in the hours before he collided with Stefano.
The accident landed Sheppard in prison for more than a year – and Stefano in a wheelchair.
The devastating wreck could have crushed Stefano’s spirit and ended his singing career. But instead, it made the former Bellevue College vocal jazz chorale member more determined than ever to succeed.
Even though these injuries forced Stefano to withdraw from school, the same day the hospital discharged him, the gutsy singer attended a major school concert in a wheelchair and body cast.
"Our final concert of the year was in early June, and Stefano had been in the hospital for roughly two weeks when he told his parents, ‘I’ve got to go to that concert!’" Thomas Almli, chairman of Bellevue College’s music department, told The ENQUIRER.
"He had pins in both his legs and his arms and had a ruptured pelvis.
"Stefano was in terrible pain and on so much medication that he was exhausted – but he showed up in a full body cast, smiling, with his parents by his side.
"And he came back the next year and finished up. Stefano is a very motivated young man!"
But along the road to "Idol" fame, Stefano hit some other major potholes, The ENQUIRER has learned.
On March 20, 2008, just one year before his bone-shattering accident, Stefano and two high school buddies were busted for possession of pot in a pickup truck.
The case was eventually dismissed.
Then, in a bizarre twist after Stefano recovered from the auto crash, he was nailed for drunk driving during a night out with pals in Seattle last year.
A highway patrol officer stopped him for driving 25 miles over the speed limit.
Stefano was arrested after failing a field sobriety test, and while being transported to headquarters, he began singing in the back of the squad car.
As result of the infraction, he spent 15 days on a work crew.
Admits Stefano: "It’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get where I am."
