His family says that a Texas teen’s spinal cord was cut when he jumped into a pool to get away from a wasp.
A GoFundMe page for SJ Williams’ medical bills says that on June 20, he was “running away from a wasp” with a friend at a community pool. He either jumped or flipped head-first into the shallow end of the pool, breaking several bones and cutting his spinal cord.
His family wrote on the “Support SJ’s Journey to Recovery” GoFundMe page, “He 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).” “He said he was just swallowing water because he thought he was going to drown because he couldn’t move.” At first, his friends thought he was just floating around and having fun.
His family said that SJ might not be living today if one of his friends hadn’t seen that he wasn’t messing around.
“SJ was taken to the hospital right away, and we got terrible news.” “The damage to his spinal cord is so bad that he will not be able to use his arms or legs,” the GoFundMe page says. “SJ has been taken to the PICU.” The broken bones were put back together. But the spinal cord is the body’s main stem, and we’re being told it can’t be fixed.
NBC 5 reported that the accident happened at a neighborhood pool in Frisco’s Old Orchard Park, which is close to SJ’s home in Little Elm.
His family said that he was able to eat and drink regularly again eight days after he got better. They still have hope that SJ will fully recover.
“Life moves quickly. I’ll say it again because I’ve already said it. Do not forget about anything or anyone. Anya, SJ’s mother, wrote on Facebook after the accident, “You NEVER think it’ll happen to you until it does.” She later added that she refuses “to believe this is SJ’s story.”
“He’s only 13!” “He has WAY too much more life to LIVE and ENJOY it ALL,” she wrote. “SJ has so much support and so many prayers being said and spoken everywhere.”
