Mayten Lumpkin Shares His Story
by Alex O’Gorman
On Sept. 17, Mayten Lumpkin and three of his friends were enjoying the last bit of heat the vanishing summer had to offer by sharing what they thought would be a relaxing day in the pool.
“I was over at Connor Anderson’s, and we were swimming— me and him and Jera [Davis] and Rachel [Sorenson]. I got up to dive in, and when I dove in I hit the top of my head,” Mayten said. “I kept consciousness, floated to the top of the pool, somehow got rolled over and called for help. After [Connor] pulled me to the shallow end, Rachel got my head and he held onto my body, and Jera went and got the floats and Connor’s mom.”
Luckily, the quick-thinking actions of Mayten’s friends in keeping him flat and above the water most likely saved his life. Anderson, Davis and Sorenson were later awarded the LifeNet Life Saver award on October 13, 2016, for their actions.
“We just got a call from Connor [Anderson’s] mom, and she was so calm and cool and collected. She was just like, ‘Now, Mayten’s okay, but he hit his head when he dove in the swimming pool, and I’ve called 911 as a precaution,’” Mayten’s mother, Missy Lumpkin, said. “It could have been a whole different scenario. Had those kids not done what they did in that swimming pool, Mayten might not be with us right now.”
After the paramedics arrived, Mayten was rushed to CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital, where he received CAT and MRI scans. Mayten’s C5 and C6 vertebrae had been shattered in the accident, so he was airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas the next morning where he underwent spinal fusion surgery.
“It wasn’t like I was hurting or anything [at St. Michael], because I was on all adrenaline. Parkland was when it kind of settled down,” Mayten said. “After the surgery, all I could do was circle my shoulders a little bit. I couldn’t move my arms or anything. I didn’t know if I was going to be fully paralyzed or what.”
After 18 days, Mayten was transported to the Texas Institute of Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston, where he began the long road to recovery. Most of his days consisted of waking up early in the morning and heading to the gym, where he would begin his physical therapy session.
“[Physical therapy] is a lot of weight training, a lot of core strength stuff,” Mayten said. “There’s also lots of electronic stimming on my hand; that’s to help try to relearn things like how to pick up blocks and stack them or play Connect Four to try to retrain your mind how to do real things.”
Mayten eventually gained feeling and movement in his arms and has begun gaining feeling back in his mid-section. While this progress is extremely encouraging, it is still difficult to predict the future of Mayten’s recovery due to the unpredictability of his injury.
“If someone dove in Connor’s pool, hit their head in the exact same way, shattered their C5 and C6 in the exact same way, was my exact size, exact weight, had the same haircut as me, they could come out totally different than I did,” Mayten said. “They can say, ‘Your progress is doing good,’ but they can’t say, ‘You’ll walk in six weeks.’”
While Mayten was away, the support back at home was unprecedented. On Sept. 19th, two days after the accident, students at Texas High School arranged for the majority of the school to wear yellow in support of Mayten. Shirts were made with messages of encouragement and with ‘77,’ Mayten’s number in football, adorned proudly.
“We just had an outpouring from the community of support, and from Texas High School,” Missy said. “I’ve never in my life been more proud to be a Tiger, and I’ve been a Tiger for a lot of years. And I’ve never been more proud to be from my hometown. Texarkana is amazing.”
Another way the community was able to show support for Mayten was through the “Prayers for Mayten” Facebook page. What originally started as a way to update concerned friends and family on Mayten’s status turned into a place where the Lumpkins knew they would always find comforting messages and prayers.
“When [Mayten] was in the bed at Parkland, he was not able to do anything. It would be at night, and he’d be depressed, and I’d say, ‘Hey, you want me to read off Facebook for a little bit?’” Missy said. “I’d go over there and start reading it, and sometimes he would cry, sometimes I would cry, and sometimes we’d cry together.”
Mayten was pulled out of most of his classes except English 4, Microeconomics and Physics, which are the three he still needs to graduate. Despite being unable to attend classes, Mayten is keeping up with his fellow students.
“I unenrolled in TISD, then I enrolled in Houston ISD, and I had a homebound teacher come two days a week every week, and I got caught up on all my schoolwork,” Mayten said. “Now that I’m back here, I’m re-enrolling in TISD, and I’ll have a homebound [teacher] come here four days a week. I’m on track to graduate.”
Mayten now looks to restoring his life to as much normality as possible. He plans to start attending classes at Texas High again in February, and is looking at potential colleges to attend next year. Above all else, Mayten is determined to regain as much mobility as he can.
“[Mayten] said that from day one, that he will walk across that stage and get his diploma,” Missy said. “It may be with crutches, it may be with a cane, but [he’s] going to walk across that stage and get that diploma. He’s got a long way to go, but I think he’s going to get there.”
Despite the ordeal that Mayten and his family have been through in the last few months, the Lumpkins choose to see the positive side of their situation, and consider themselves extremely blessed.
“There were so many prayers, and everybody wearing yellow, and it was just really overwhelming,” Missy said. “We had no idea how much love there was for him and for our family, and we’ll never forget it.”
In the Blink of an eye
A 17-year-old boy entering his senior year just like the rest of his classmates: both nervous and excited for the future.
A 17-year-old boy seeing his life change in a flash in the blink of an eye.
A 17-year old boy travelling from medical facility to medical facility, waking up at 7:45 every morning for physical therapy.
A 17-year-old boy still saying against all odds, “It doesn’t all suck, Mom. A lot of it is a huge blessing. Look at all the people praying for us and that care about us.”
