A 12-year-old Utah boy who traveled with his team to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to play in the Little League World Series suffered a serious head injury in the dorm where the players are staying.
Easton Oliverson, an outfielder and pitcher for the Snow Canyon Little League baseball team from Santa Clara, Utah, fell out of his top bunk about 2:30 a.m. Monday and hit his head, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Easton’s uncle, Spencer Beck, told TMZ Sports that the boy, whose nickname is “Tank,” suffered a fractured skull. He underwent emergency surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma, Beck said.
On Tuesday, however, the Instagram account miraclesfortank, which provides official updates on Easton’s recovery, said his condition was improving.
“Last night, Easton’s friend was able to talk to him over the phone. He told Easton to put his thumb up- and he did! His friend then told him to put his other thumb up- and he did that as well! We are so grateful for these little miracles,” the account said.
Just talked to the @snowcanyon2022 Little League coach, and he said Easton Oliverson, who had to have emergency surgery after falling out his bunk at the LLWS, was able to give two thumbs up last night. Story on @abc4utah at 5, 6 and 10 tonight. pic.twitter.com/koukmEFKzp
— Dana Greene (@dana_greene) August 16, 2022
More good news came later Tuesday.
“Easton keeps proving himself to be the fighter we have always known he is!!” the account said. “Two big updates tonight:
“• His breathing tube is out!! This is a big step, and we are all so proud of him.
“• The results from his MRI scan came out very promising.
“The prayers are working! Please keep them coming. We love you all!”
The 12-year-old who suffered severe injuries in a fall from his bunk bed at the Little League World Series is showing encouraging signs of recovery.https://t.co/aIJDjGX4FM
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) August 17, 2022
In an earlier post, miraclesfortank explained what happened.
“He had what was called an epidural hematoma. He fractured his skull and in the meantime punctured an artery outside the brain which caused the bleeding,” the account said Monday.
“They were able to successfully remove the hematoma and stop the bleeding. His pupils were extremely dilated but with the piece of skull removed and hematoma removed and the bleeding being stopped they’ve come back down and seem to be functioning normally.
“It is now a waiting game neurologically. They are going to start weening him off the pain meds to see what brain activity there is. He is not out of the woods yet. Dr said to look at it half glass full and seemed positive but reminded me that he isn’t out of the woods yet.”
Easton was evaluated by a nurse at the dorm for the young players, sent to a local hospital and then airlifted to a children’s hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, where he was listed in critical condition, according to KSTU-TV.
The family sounded upbeat in a statement to TMZ Sports.
“Just 36 hours ago, Easton was 30 minutes from passing away,” the family said. “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,” it said.
“He went through pretty traumatic surgery to get to where he’s at, but the doctors are all really positive,” Beck said. “All of the steps moving forward have been good so far.”
“Just a really simple thing — something that we’ve all probably done is fall off the bed,” the uncle said. “But he hit his [head] pretty hard, it sounds like.”
Beck said one of Easton’s teammates heard the fall and woke up, alerting first responders.
“Had that other player not been wakened by him falling, he may not have made it,” he said.
Beck said the team went ahead with its scheduled 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,” he said.
The Snow Canyon team is scheduled to play its first game of the Little League World Series on Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.
The team’s trip to the Little League World Series is the first for a Utah team.
