Yahoo Finance Little Leaguer, 12, Undergoes Emergency Surgery for Brain Injury After Falling from Bunk Bed
A Utah Little Leaguer is in the hospital after suffering brain injuries following a fall from a bunk bed.
Easton Oliverson, 12, fell early Monday morning from the top of a bunk bed at the Williamsport, Pennsylvania dormitory where he and his Snow Canyon teammates were staying ahead of their first game in the Little League World Series, according to multiple reports.
Oliverson was airlifted to Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He is currently in intensive care, his family said, as doctors wait for the swelling in his brain to go down. The pitcher and outfielder also had fractures to his skull and cheekbone.
"He went through pretty traumatic surgery to get to where he's at, but the doctors are all really positive," Oliverson's uncle, Spencer Beck, told the Salt Lake Tribune. "All of the steps moving forward have been good so far."
On Tuesday, the family released an update about the Little Leaguer's prognosis.
"Just 36 hours ago, Easton was 30 minutes from passing away," the family said, according to TMZ Sports. "Now 36 hours later, he has a team of Trauma 1 doctors who are in absolute awe of his tremendous progress. One of his doctors said that everything they have hoped Easton to be able to do in the last 12 hours, he has done and more."
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Little League Baseball encouraged "all to join us in keeping the Snow Canyon Little League player and his family in our thoughts and prayers, as we wish for a full and complete recovery," they said in a statement.
On Monday, Beck posted on Facebook that his nephew had "made it through a successful surgery and his brain is reacting well."
Easton's father, Jace Oliverson, is a coach on Easton's team, based out of Santa Clara, Utah, and shared with Salt Lake City's KSL-TV how his son was injured.
"He just hit the ground super hard. Fractured his head. Fractured his cheekbone," Jace said. "Fell about 6 feet high. It was carpeted, but it's a pretty hard floor. But he just unfortunately just landed right."
His dad proudly told the station that his son, who goes by the nickname "Tank," had to "work really hard to be a good baseball player, so for him to make a team with these type of players it's a really cool story."
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Now, family members are asking for prayers as Easton recovers.
"I've always been a firm believer in prayer and the power that comes with it and so if people continue to rally around us that he will make a full recovery. Right now it is slow, they are telling me it's a cross-country race," Jace said.
The dad and coach said that he's asked that the team play on Friday, which will be their first-ever appearance in the Little League World Series.
