SALISBURY — The family of Gavin Littleton, the 15-year-old injured in a diving accident Aug. 1, say they hope he will be accepted at the renowned Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
Experts from Shepherd were scheduled to evaluate Littleton today, grandmother Karen Littleton said.
Shepherd is a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury and brain injury.
Gavin Littleton broke his neck when he dove into shallow water at High Rock Lake. Teenage friends saved his life by pulling him from the bottom of the lake, administering CPR and finding help.
Littleton remains hospitalized at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he has undergone two surgeries, grandfather Jeff Littleton said.
Paralyzed from the neck down, Gavin Littleton can’t speak and breathes with the help of a ventilator. He communicates by shaking his head yes or no and mouthing words to family and friends, his grandparents said.
Despite the tragedy, Gavin remains in good spirits and inspires everyone who comes to visit with his steadfast faith in God and the power of prayer, his grandparents said.
“He’s been incredible,” Jeff Littleton said. “He has been phenomenal throughout the whole ordeal.”
The family has set up a Facebook page titled “Praying for Gavin.”
“He is such an amazing inspiration to us all,” father Todd Littleton posted.
Family members on Tuesday told Gavin for the first time that he is paralyzed.
“And just as I expected, he took it like a man full of faith. He said he was not scared,” Todd Littleton wrote on Facebook. “He knows the miracles that we have claimed are on the horizon but will come in God’s time.”
Read more in Thursday’s Post.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.