Hannah Locks, a Cumberland Presbyterian youth and member of the Spring Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Grace Presbytery) in Montevallo, Alabama, was at Grace Presbytery Camp in Millport, Alabama, June 17, 2020, and “having the time of her life” on “Water Day” on an inflatable water slide when she suffered an accident which resulted in a broken neck. “I knew something really, really bad had happened,” Hannah said, “I felt the bones crack and very intense pain followed that.”
Hannah’s mother, Jaye Locks, the Ambulatory Services Administrator for UAB Medicine and a nurse who was one of the camp directors described the accident, “she went down the slide a little ‘wonky,’ and took another kid’s legs out from under him. He fell on her and at that point, I knew something very serious had happened. I knew enough as a nurse not to move her, but we had to get her out of the water. I went into nurse mode, not mom mode. I knew enough to know that because she was moving, I knew not to panic as much.”
After being initially treated locally, Hannah was airlifted to the University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham where surgeons fused Hannah’s fourth and fifth vertebrae. The 16-year-old was not paralyzed. Her mom said that she was conscious throughout the ordeal and was “neurologically intact at all times, but there were moments of sheer panic.”
Hannah was home Monday evening after she was fitted with a brace that she must wear 24 hours a day for eight weeks. After physical therapy, Hannah expects to return to regular activities.
“The day I get the brace off is the day before school starts,” Hannah said, “Isn’t that awesome?”
Hannah is scheduled to be cheer captain for her high school. She also plays volleyball and soccer.
Connect with Spring Creek CPC: https://www.facebook.com/Spring-Creek-Cumberland-Presbyterian-Church-240394742665872
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