A player on the Utah Little League team that reached the Little League World Series was hospitalized on Monday after falling from a bunk bed in Williamsport.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Monday that Easton Oliverson, 12, was flown to a Pennsylvania hospital for surgery after he fell off the top bunk. The family was notified of the incident around 2:30 a.m. MT (4:30 a.m. ET).
Spencer Beck, Oliverson’s uncle, told TMZ Sports Oliverson suffered a fractured skull and is in a medically induced coma. On Tuesday, Oliverson’s family told TMZ Sports he was showing positive signs of recovery.
“Just 36 hours ago, Easton was 30 minutes from passing away,” the family told TMZ Sports. “Now 36 hours later, he has a team of Trauma 1 doctors who are in absolute awe of his tremendous progress.
One of his doctors said that everything that have hoped Easton to be able to do in the last 12 hours, he has done and more.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported one of Oliverson’s teammates woke up after Oliverson fell off the bunk bed in the dorm room in Williamsport and requested help. Oliverson, whose nickname is Tank, was taken to a children’s hospital and underwent emergency surgery. He was recovering in the intensive care unit as doctors waited for the swelling in his brain to go down.
“Had that other player not been wakened by him falling, he may not have made it,” Beck told The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Snow Canyon Little League All-Star team made history this year to become the first team from Utah to reach the Little League World Series.
The team went 3-0 during Mountain Region play. It was the first year the Mountain Region had existed. Previously, Utah had been part of the West region, which included Arizona, Nevada, Northern California, Southern California and Hawaii.
“It’s kind of surreal still to be the first team from Utah and the first team from the Mountain Region. I think that’s going to take some time to set in,” head coach Mark Ence told The Spectrum. “I’m just proud of the coaches. I couldn’t be here without our other two coaches and proud of the kids for being resilient. Two of the three games we started out down and had to come back.”
Beck told The Salt Lake Tribune the team was still holding practice because “I’m sure that’s what Easton would want.” The team’s first game is at Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
Jace Oliverson, Easton Oliverson’s father and one of the team’s coaches, told Snow Canyon Little League to continue playing in the tournament, per TMZ Sports.
“While our hearts are heavy, we are committed as a team to have an opportunity to take part in something that is only dreamt about by others,” the team said in a statement, according to TMZ Sports.
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