"As soon as the phone rang I knew,” Parvetti Wood said.
Last September, Wood's son, Louis, was headed to a soccer camp with two friends in the car.
“They had an accident. They went off the road, off the corner," Wood said.
It was the first time she allowed him to ride with someone other than her. They never made it to soccer camp. Louis Wood had to be airlifted to Nationwide Children's Hospital.
"Unfortunately, Lou suffered a severe brain injury and his lungs were punctured quite badly too. He wouldn't have survived anywhere else. Someone stood there and bagged like that for 8 hours to keep him breathing," Wood said.
What should have been a fun time at camp turned into a nightmare.
“Both my husband and I were like, ‘Come on Lou, Come on Lou. Come on breathe’,” said Wood.
They needed Lou to fight, but the doctors needed to ease the pressure on his brain. He was placed in a medically-induced coma for a month.
“He's got lots of tubes and pipes. It was quite a bit frightening to see as a parent,” Wood said.
The coma worked. Three months later, Lou was discharged and ready to fight.
“He had everything fed through a tube. He couldn't move his arms or his legs. All the way up until July, Louis couldn't speak so he was forced to use an iPad, to communicate,” Wood said.
That wouldn't stop Lou. He would type out each thought letter by letter. Even though it was hard work, there was no stopping Lou. He fought his fears and learned to walk again. It's no surprise that his nickname, even before the crash, is Teflon. But it only takes one look at his smile, to melt your heart.
“He’s super smiley, super happy all the time. Every day he tells me he's happy,” Wood said.
Happy and healthy enough to go back to school.
“He just got an A on his math test, he's got an A in English, got an A in art. Not sure how he quite managed to get an A in art,” Wood said.
School is helping Lou talk again and he's wasting no time getting this message to his doctor:
“Thank you for making me live,” Louis Wood said.
Louis Wood keeps setting his goals high. He wants to get back on his bike and eventually the soccer field with the ultimate goal of becoming a professional soccer player. As he continues to make great strides in his recovery, he will be at Mile 9 this Sunday, October 16th for the
Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon, helping push the runners one step closer to the finish line.