A Cyril teenager praises God for her miraculously recovery from a freak accident where a goalpost fell and hit her head.
"God is great," 15-year-old Jenessa Thompson told ABC 7 News. Jenessa, a sophomore at Cyril High School, is now back in class after being hospitalized due to severe head injuries and a broken jaw that she sustained after a goalpost toppled over and fell on her head.
"I give all my glory to him," Thompson said, "and I won't be here without Him." Janessa said she is also grateful for the support not just from her local community in Cyril but the surrounding towns all over Oklahoma.
A freak accident
Last October, the freak accident happened when Thompson was with a fellow cheerleader to take a picture with the team at the football field. She recalled that she was standing there and waiting when she thought that she saw her friend falling. Her instinct led her to go under there to catch her friend, but it turns out to be the goalpost falling, and it hit her.
According to KFOR, the goal post hit her solid and pinned her to the ground. Her grandmother, Debbie Thompson, got to the scene immediately and saw her grandchild laying in her coach's arms. She told Oklahoma News that Jenessa wasn't responsive and was "moaning but pretty much unconscious."
Thompson was then airlifted to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Her cheer coach, Taylor Reynolds, also suffered an ankle injury. Thompson said all she could remember after the accident was waking in at the hospital. She said that it was pretty scary.
Miraculously, she didn't have any brain bleeds
The doctors then told them that while there was so much blood they couldn't find any brain bleeds, Debbie said, and that was when everyone started crying and "jumping up and down." Jenessa was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where doctors kept her under observation for at least two days.
Thompson had at least 15 fractures in her head because of the accident, including a broken jaw and shattered bones in her ear. She also lost her vision in her right eye. She said they are not yet sure what is going to happen but for now, they will start with some exercises "to try to get the muscle back at least."
She is still hopeful that she would regain her vision soon as she is already wanting to get back and play basketball again. She is confident that with prayer and time, she will get there. Her basketball coach, Shane McLemore, is just as confident. "There is no doubt," McLemore said, "that she'll be back,"
A GoFundMe was set up to help the family with medical expenses.
"She will have a long road to recovery with a surgery or two along the way," the fundraiser's page says. "Jenessa is the first person to help everyone, so this fundraiser is designed to show her the same love she shows everyone else."
