SANDY, Utah – A teenager who was airlifted from Jordan High School with a critical neck injury Wednesday is expected to be OK.
The student was injured in an accident at Jordan High School in Sandy around 11:30 a.m., and students at the school have identified the teen as 15-year-old freshman named Taylor.
School district officials have not released or confirmed the identity of the student, citing privacy concerns. The district, along with the fire department, did confirm a 15-year-old student was in a P.E. class when he approached a basketball hoop at the end of the period.
“He went ahead and jumped up and grabbed onto the hoop, and when he was up on the hoop, he let go, and he fell in a way that he landed on his head,” said Matt Stuebner of the Sandy Fire Department.
Students who spoke with FOX 13 News said many of their peers heard about what happened within minutes.
“We heard the helicopter, and everyone just started going outside to see what was going on,” one student said.
Students tell FOX 13 News Taylor has been known to do tricks off of objects, which may explain why he had jumped up and grabbed the hoop.
“...the patient was experiencing seizure-like activity and went unconscious,” Stuebner said of the aftermath.
The teen was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital. Students who spoke with FOX 13 News said they are glad to hear the injury isn’t as severe as some had worried it might be.
“He had a concussion, that’s what they said over the intercom, but everyone had thought that he'd broke his neck,” one student told FOX 13 News.
Jeff Haney, Canyons School District, said they later learned the teen is expected to make a full recovery.
“We’ve received information from the family that indicates that, while he received a good bump to the head, he’s going to be just fine,” Haney said.
Officials said the teen will stay in the hospital overnight, primarily as a precaution. While the student had been in a P.E. class just prior to the accident, the school had moved into the passing time between periods when the actual fall occurred.
