Documentary features KC Chiefs radio host who overcame rare virus in 2022
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- Art Hains contracted West Nile virus in 2022 and was hospitalized in critical condition.
- After months of rehabilitation Hains returned to Chiefs and Missouri State broadcasts.
- Documentary “Voice Unbroken” chronicles Hains' recovery and broadcast comeback.
Art Hains’ legs felt more tired than usual as he lugged radio gear back to the car after calling Missouri State’s near-upset at Arkansas early in the 2022 football season.
“I attributed that to carrying the equipment for several blocks,” Hains said.
But the next day, Hains was in the emergency room, and the day after that an ambulance carried him to Cox Medical Center in Springfield, where he was listed in critical condition. Three days after calling a game in which the Bears led the Razorbacks by 10 in the fourth quarter before falling, Hains was diagnosed with West Nile virus from a mosquito bite.
About 1,100 cases of West Nile Virus in the U.S. were confirmed in 2022.
“I was one of the lucky ones,” Hains deadpanned.
Hains’ life was forever changed, but he was not deterred. Confined to a wheelchair after eight months of rehabilitation, he returned to broadcast duties at Missouri State and as studio host for the Chiefs Radio Network in 2023 and 2024 before retiring earlier this football season.
His career is now the subject of a documentary, “Voice Unbroken: One Broadcaster’s Inspirational Survival Story” by Butterfly Road Productions of Kansas City and film maker Dena Hildebrand.
The 55-minute film will show Saturday (Nov. 8) at Glenwood Arts Theatre in Overland Park at 7 p.m. A question and answer session will follow the screening.
The film tells the story of how Hains was life-flighted from Springfield to KU Medical Center in Kansas City as advocates with the Chiefs, including radio network executive producer Dan Isreal — who died in March after battling cancer — helped Hains begin to get the care he needed.
That care meant an eight-month rehabilitation stay at two facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a future that surely would not include broadcasting as Hains fought for his life.
He had been a broadcasting lifer, from his first job calling high school games in his Marshall, Missouri, hometown at 17, and working a career path through Missouri State, the Dallas Cowboys and the Southwest Conference.
Starting in 1985 Hains hunkered down on Bears football, men’s basketball and baseball. He joined the Chiefs crew in 2008.
It was a profession he wasn’t ready to leave. As the calendar pages turned in 2023, Hains’ resolve grew.
“My first goal was to live,” he said. “My second goal was to get back to Springfield. My third was to get back on the air.”
By the 2023 football season, Hains was back, calling games at Missouri State and on the Chiefs network. He worked the Chiefs’ Super Bowl seasons of 2023 and 2024, and was with the Bears through their transition to NCAA Division I FBS.
The final of his 2,700 or so broadcasts was Missouri State’s home opener this season against Hains’ alma mater, SMU, in the program’s first home game against an FBS opponent.
“What a way to end my career,” Hains said.
Hains gets around in a motorized wheelchair. He attended three Royals games this season and with his wife Lisa remains a visible part of the Springfield community.
“I’ll probably never (get the) use of my legs back, but it is what it is,” Hains said. “It’s been important to see and be with people who were so supportive.”