A Thomson High School student is home recovering after being taken by helicopter to Medical College of Georgia Hospital in Augusta following a serious accident Friday afternoon.
"He's just in a lot of pain right now. It's pretty rough," Julie Langham said of her son, Mitch. "But he's in good spirits. We're just lucky that he's here, so we're just grateful."
Local lawmen and school officials said two high school teenagers were "horsing around" on the junior high school campus, with one of them, Mitch, sitting on the hood of a car being driven by the other. When the driver braked, he slid off the hood and struck his head on the pavement.
Mrs. Langham stressed that her son was "not car surfing," neither were the teens fighting.
"It wasn't malicious, they were just being teenagers," she said.
The boys were at Thomson-McDuffie Junior High School at the end of the school day to pick up younger siblings who attend school there. The accident occurred about 3 p.m. and McDuffie County Emergency Medical Services and local firefighters/first responders treated Mitch at the scene.
"We're just so thankful to everybody there and their quick thinking and how fast they acted," Mrs. Langham said.
Mrs. Langham said her son received severe abrasions on his face, arms, leg and hip. She added that his facial fracture is less than one centimeter, and doctors said it should not require surgery.
Sgt. Ritchie Howard of the Georgia State Patrol post in Thomson was called to investigate the accident. The case later was referred to McDuffie Schools safety officer Jerry Stanphill. Officer Stanphill said Tuesday that charges are forthcoming.
