Family and friends of accident victim Kywanzie Southwell are calling his recovery a miracle as the teenager – who was on a ventilator just over two weeks ago – is now walking, talking and living life nearly as normal as before.
His mother, Sharon Mayers, told OBSERVER media she would forever be indebted to the public who responded to her call for O-positive blood when her son needed it for his life-saving surgery on March 4.
“I want to thank the public for their outpouring of love and their prayers and all who came out to give blood. I want to thank them so much. Kywanzie is doing much better. He is recovering much quicker and everyone is surprised how quickly he is recovering. But if it wasn’t for the public and their love and their prayers, I really don’t know what would’ve happened,” she said.
Mayers said even as she rejoices her son’s recovery, she cannot ignore a concern she now has following the experience with her 19-year-old offspring.
That concern is the need for blood donations at the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre, since the stock has to be kept at a certain level all the time.
“All who [are] listening and want to give blood to the hospital, they should because they never know; the life they save might be their very own,” she said.
Mayers’ son was one of four people badly injured in a single-vehicle crash earlier this month.
While Southwell and two others, all in their teens, are recovering quickly and have been discharged, one of the passengers still remains hospitalised with hip damage so severe he cannot walk.
The accident occurred in the vicinity of Budget Marine in Cobbs Cross while the driver was allegedly speeding. The car crashed into a culvert, spun out of control, and flipped over several times before landing on its wheels.
Two of the occupants were thrown from the vehicle while Southwell, who was wearing his seatbelt, got trapped in the car and had to be rescued.