ST. GEORGE — Easton Oliverson, the 12-year-old Snow Canyon Little League all-star who was injured in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, days before the start of the Little League World Series, is advancing closer to home.
Easton’s family said he was being transferred Tuesday from Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City as he continues to recover from skull, cheekbone and brain injuries.
The trip, with his mother Nancy, will bring him closer to St. George, where his teammates celebrated their own return last Wednesday. While his mom stayed behind with him in Pennsylvania, his father Jace, an assistant coach with the team, and little brother Brogan, who was added to the team after the injury, returned last week.
Easton fell from the top bunk in the team dorms at the Little League World Series complex about three days before his team’s first game representing the Mountain region as the first-ever Utah team to reach the series. After the incident, Little League International replaced the bunk beds in favor of single beds.
Doctors now say Easton is expected to completely recover after two surgeries and anxious initial moments where they said his life was on the line.
Before departing for the Utah hospital, a video was sent out on social media and to media outlets with a message directly from Easton – the first words he has said publicly since the incident.
“Hi everyone, this is Easton. Thank you for all your prayers,” he says in the video, his right eye still swollen, but expected to heal.
“Please keep praying for me as I continue to get better,” he adds with a smile. “I know blessings have worked and Heavenly Father is blessing me.”
The video message in its entirety can be viewed at the beginning of this article.
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