‘Freak accident’ leaves teen baseball player fighting for his life, Alabama family says
An Alabama community is rallying behind one of its own after a “freak accident” left a teen fighting for his life.
On Tuesday, June 6, Grayson Pope, a rising junior and “standout” baseball player at Hewitt-Trussville High School, was playing golf with teammates when a storm started brewing in Trussville, the Trussville Tribune reported.
“I just remember hearing the crack of a tree,” Brett Moseley, a teammate who was in the golf cart with Pope, told AL.com. “He was driving and I was in the passenger seat.”
The tree came crashing down, hitting the golf cart and knocking Pope unconscious in a “freak accident,” his father, David Pope, said in a Facebook post.
“He was just laying there,” Moseley told AL.com. “When I grabbed him out of the cart, I was carrying him and I sat him down. Nobody’s phone would work because it was so wet, so I used Siri to call 911.”
Pope’s family said he was rushed to a hospital and began testing for a traumatic brain injury. By the evening of June 7, he had undergone multiple CT scans and had significant brain swelling, according to a Facebook post made in a “Prayers for Grayson Pope” community page.
“He is on a ventilator but trying and breathing on his own at times,” the 8:34 p.m. update read. “He is sedated and when they reduce that he is starting to respond to pain but not as much as they want him to. He isn’t responding to verbal commands. Because he isn’t responding verbally, they are doing an MRI to make sure there isn’t some bleeding somewhere else that the CT scan didn’t show.”
As Pope was fighting in the hospital, his community came together.
Around 10 p.m. on June 6, around 150 people gathered at a local church to pray for Pope, many of whom were high school classmates who cheered for him on the field, the Trussville Tribune reported.
Pope committed to play baseball at the University of Tennessee as a sophomore, according to the Trussville Tribune, and he also plays for a club team.
“We ask for prayers from everyone for our guy, Grayson Pope and his family,” Excel Baseball Academy wrote on Facebook. “It is going to be a real fight and a long recovery, but we know G is going to battle back.”
On June 7, a huge crowd gathered at a public park to pray and sing for Pope, led by musician Ethan Womack, AL.com reported.
Photos of Pope sat on tables with baseballs inscribed with “Pray 4 Gray,” group members shared on the community Facebook page.
“David and I are overwhelmed by the love and prayers from Trussville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Kentucky and many other states,” Pope’s mother, Jamie Partin Pope, wrote on the page. “Grayson feels your prayers!”
In a June 8 update, David Pope said his son’s neurologist told them he had micro hemorrhages on his brain and on his brain stem. He said the bleeds explained why Pope wasn’t responding to verbal commands and movements.
“The plan is to continue to heal and take another MRI in 1 week to see where he is at,” David Pope said in a Facebook post.
Trussville is about 15 miles northeast of Birmingham.
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