Posted on 08/16/2022 9:33:02 AM PDT by Red Badger
At the beginning of a dream trip to the Little League World Series, a Utah team from Santa Clara is suddenly dealing with a nightmare.
Easton Oliverson, a 12-year-old player on the Snow Canyon Little League baseball team, was flown to a Pennsylvania hospital for emergency surgery after falling off the top bunk of a bed overnight and suffering a severe head injury.
“He went through pretty traumatic surgery to get to where he’s at, but the doctors are all really positive,” said Spencer Beck, Oliverson’s uncle. “All of the steps moving forward have been good so far.”
Beck and the rest of Oliverson’s family have been waiting and hoping for good news since they first learned of the accident about 2:30 a.m. on Monday.
“Just a really simple thing — something that we’ve all probably done is fall off the bed,” Beck said. “But he hit his pretty hard, it sounds like.”
Beck said one of Oliverson’s teammates was awoken by his fall and promptly sought help.
“Had that other player not been wakened by him falling, he may not have made it,” Beck said.
Oliverson was taken to a children’s hospital where he underwent surgery. He is still asleep and recovering in the intensive care unit. Beck said doctors are waiting for the swelling in his brain to go down.
Beck said the last he heard, the rest of the team was in shock, just like everyone else. He added the team still held practice because “I’m sure that’s what Easton would want.”
“I know that they’ll have him at the forefront of their thoughts and hearts,” Beck said.
At present, there are no plans to start a specific fundraising campaign for Oliverson, Beck said. Those closest to him are waiting to see how his recovery goes first.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
I understand the space and space-cost conditions that leads to the use of bunk beds in dorms for kids like those attendinding large event away games like the Little League world series.
But in that same context there is often more “horsing around” among the bunks when not sleeping, and half-asleep very tired kids making mistakes getting out of the upper bunks.
Not frequent but tragic non the less.
LOL. You sound like me and my brothers.
Guard rails are a no-brained for bunk beds, although I did have a younger cousin who slept over one night, used the top bunk, and managed to roll right over it. He wasn’t the slightest bit hurt, so we all had a good laugh and something to tease him about for years.
The private school where I went for high school dorm rooms had bunk beds, we could separate them. My roommate and I did it. Had bunk beds went I was 5 to 7 rolled off the top. Had a headache.
As a 2nd grader in the 1960’s I rolled off the top bunk once. I had a scrape on my forehead, but that was all. Apparently I sort of rolled down the ladder which mitigated the damage. They really should have side rails on them.
New bunk beds do have rails. The ‘ladder’ is at the foot............
Ours went up the side. But, that would have been around 1964.
Ours didn’t have one at all!..................
It was his parents fault for giving him a queen sized bed at home......just joking.................................................... but a lot of parents give their kids a bed fit for a queen or king. Imagine going from 60- some inches wide to 36. You have been trained to flop, thrash and roll over.
We slept on army bunks, made of wrought iron, with springs and a mattress on it. No railings, and the floor was concrete with a wool rug on it. Situational awareness is called for at all times in life. Even while sleeping. Especially when attempting to steal another pillow or blanket.
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