A teen severed his spinal cord — and may never regain the use of his hands or feet — while trying to leap into a swimming pool to avoid a wasp, according to his family.
SJ Williams, 13, was playing at a community pool in Old Orchard Park near his home in Little Elm, Texas , on June 20 when he was startled by the insect. As he neared the edge of the pool , the teen either attempted to dive or performed a head-first flip into the water — but ended up landing hard in the shallow end of the pool.
“I suppose there was a panic, you know, a frantic measure to get out of harm’s way. SJ just jumped into the pool, but apparently, he dove in unbeknownst to perhaps the depth of the pool,” Louis Camper, Williams’ grandfather, told NBC-DFW . “He just recalls hitting his head and he even indicated that it felt as if his arms were not part of his body because of the fact that he couldn’t feel.”
The impact severed his spinal cord and caused several other fractures, according to a GoFundMe established to help pay for his medical expenses. He’s currently recovering at the Children’s Health hospital in Dallas after undergoing surgery, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
“[Williams] said all he remembers after the jump, is floating face down in the pool thinking that his arm was floating next to him (because he couldn’t feel it),” his brother wrote on a GoFundMe fundraiser. “He said he thought he was going to drown because he couldn’t move, so he was just swallowing water. His friends said they thought he was just floating and playing at first.”
The GoFundMe page also noted that it was a friend’s quick thinking that likely saved his life.
“If it weren’t for one of his friends realizing that he wasn’t ‘just floating’…my mom would would’ve been planning a funeral," Williams’ brother wrote.
Doctors told the family that SJ would no longer be able to use his arms and legs because his spinal cord was so badly damaged.
”SJ was rushed to the hospital and we received absolutely devastating news. His spinal cord had been severed so badly that he will not have use of his legs and arms,” the GoFundMe page says. “SJ has been admitted to PICU. The fractured bones were repaired. However, the spinal cord is the main stem of the body, and we’re being told it’s not repairable.”
Anya Camper, SJ’s mother, urging people in a Facebook post to enjoy their health and their loved ones, because things can change quickly and without warning.
“Life happens quick. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Never take anything or anyone for granted. You NEVER think it’ll happen to you, until it happens to you,” she wrote.
Camper said that she and her family are preparing for the changes they will all have to make to support SJ in his recovery.
“The reality is, this is a long road. This is going to be a marathon for us and we have to support him and be with him every step of the way,” Anya Camper told NBC-DFW.
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