School community rallies around boy injured in sledding mishap
Dozens are rallying around the family of a St. Clair Shores youngster who was critically injured in a sledding accident over the weekend in Oakland County.
George Phillips, a fourthgrader at Violet Elementary School in the Lake Shore Public Schools District, remains hospitalized in Children’s Hospital in Detroit. He was listed Monday in critical condition, but appears to be stabilizing, according to police.
A family friend has organized a GoFundMe.com account to accept donations for his mother, Jessica Phillips, and George’s two younger brothers.
“Jessica is so appreciative and thankful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support,” Nadina Abdurahmanovic, a co-worker of Jessica’s, wrote on the GoFundMe page.
George, 9, was involved in a crash Saturday night in Rochester Hills while visiting relatives, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Jessica Phillips is divorced from her husband, also named George, according to court records.
A police report stated the
boy’s 37-year-old father was using his 2009 Jeep Wrangler to give his son rides on a sled in the 2100 block of Somerville Road, in the area of Hamlin and John R roads.
While the father, a Royal Oak resident, was towing his son on a plastic sled in circles around a cul-de-sac, the boy struck the rear of a parked vehicle.
The Rochester Hills Fire
Department was called the scene to transport the boy to Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital. He was later taken by life-flight to Children’s Hospital. The boy suffered numerous injuries, including a broken femur and bleeding on the brain.
Jessica Phillips works as a nurse at Beaumont Royal Oak and was on duty when her son was rushed in. She was told her son was in the trauma unit on the floor below and she hurried down see him.
Investigators said alcohol was not a factor in the incident.
Undersheriff Michael McCabe said an investigation by the sheriff’s crash reconstruction unit is ongoing.
“The child is stabilizing and that’s good news,” McCabe said Monday. “We are on hold for now before the we present our findings to the (Oakland County) prosecutor’s office.
Parents at Violet Elementary School posted a message on Facebook, urging community members to donate even a small amount to the GoFundMe effort.
“We do not know how long he will be in (the hospital) or how the road for recovery will look, but my hope is that you all say a prayer and keep his family in your thoughts,” the post read. “We support each other in good times and bad, and this is especially one those times.”
George’s brothers attend second grade and preschool at Violet Elementary.
As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, more than 500 people had contributed $26,500 to the campaign at gofund. me/9c0a6ffe. To donate the Jessica Phillips directly, her Venmo account is @jessicapirronephillips.
From 2008 through 2017, 220,488 patients were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for injuries related to sledding, according to the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Nearly 70% of these patients were children age 19 years and younger.