Critically injured Utah Little League player shows progress after devastating fall, family says

Photo Courtesy: Oliverson Family/Facebook

WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania , Utah, Aug. 17, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The family of the Santa Clara Little Leaguer injured in a fall as his team awaits the World Series is posting good news about the 12-year-old’s progress.

“This morning’s updates have us all in tears of joy,” Easton Oliverson’s uncle Spencer Beck posted Wednesday.

The boy is no longer sedated, Beck said. “He asked for water this morning. The doctors said that this is good because it usually takes a week or two for patients to usually have the desire to eat or drink after having gotten their breathing tube out.”

“The little stinker,” Beck said, pulled out his feeding tube in the middle of the night, which was later restored. He’s also being spoon fed and drinking through a straw.

The boy suffered a severe head injury in a fall from his bunkbed Sunday night at the Williamsport complex. He was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, where he underwent surgery. The Snow Canyon All Stars, from Santa Clara in Washington County, were in Williamsport after earning their spot in the global Little League tourney by winning the Mountain Regional Championship last week.

The outpouring of sympathy and support for Easton is easily measured on social media, even drawing a tweet Monday from Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

But since then Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts has sent Easton a video. Betts is his favorite player. “Jace (Easton’s father) showed him the video this morning and he started to cry,” Beck wrote. “He has been waving at Jace and Nancy and mouthing the words ‘I love you.””

“I don’t think we can emphasize enough how grateful we are for the love, support and prayers,” Beck writes. “Jace wanted me to emphasize that while Easton is making tremendous progress, he still has a very long road ahead.

“We are asking you to continue to send prayers. We know that Easton is capable, but with his prayer army behind him – he can be unstoppable.”

The Handel’s ice cream chain has announced a fund-raiser at its St. George, Woods Cross, Layton, Sandy and Ft. Union locations for Easton’s medical bills Thursday from 6-10 p.m. with a portion of proceeds going to the Oliverson family. 

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