'We are hopeful': Family prays for good news as 8-year-old ‘slowly wakes up' after trampoline accident sent him into coma
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA: An 8-year-old boy from California is improving after being admitted to the hospital for brain injuries he sustained while jumping on a trampoline. Leeland Korman of Carlsbad was celebrating his brother's birthday the previous week when he and his younger sister tripped over each other on the trampoline.
The twins banged their heads together but didn't seem to have any major injuries at that time. It was only later that evening that Leeland's family became aware that something was amiss. Leeland's mother, Maggie Havensek, told KSWB-TV that she noticed a noise that worried her coming from another room while preparing lunches for the next day. "I ran into the room and my son was seizing and not responsive," she told the outlet.
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Multiple surgeries conducted
According to PEOPLE, Leeland was flown to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, where he is presently receiving treatment. According to Melanie Lupica, Leeland's third-grade teacher, who stated on a GoFundMe page for her student that the accident caused Leeland to have a brain hemorrhage. The teacher also claimed that Leeland had a blood clot, which caused a stroke.
According to Lupica, Leeland has had "multiple surgeries" at Rady's Children's Hospital, including having a blood clot removed as well as a portion of his skull. He was also put into a medically-induced coma "to give his body time to heal." However, Lupica said that as of February 1, Leeland is "slowly" waking up as he is being weaned off of some drugs by his doctors. "His family is with him and he is starting to show signs that he can hear them," Lupica wrote on the website. "We are hopeful great news is ahead."
'He is not going to be able to walk'
According to Lupica's statement on the fundraising page, Leeland's brain on one side had suffered "permanent damage." She also said that the recovery process will be long one. "He is not going to be able to walk," Leeland's mother told KSWB-TV.
Since the disaster, the people of Carlsbad have come together to help the young boy and his family. According to the sources, many of Leeland's classmates at Magnolia Elementary School made cards and wrote letters for Leeland that provide words of love and comfort during his difficult time. "When he wakes up, we just want to make him feel like he's loved and there's a lot of people caring for him," classmate Lincoln Hern told KGTV. More than $36,000 had been raised through the GoFundMe page to pay for Leeland's medical costs.
