Georgia Teen Returns To Baseball Field Less Than A Year After Emergency Brain Surgery

Caiden Wilson was warming up in the batting cages when a freak accident changed the course of his young life.

Baseball player Caiden Wilson was a freshman at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, when tragedy struck on April 13th, 2022.

Caiden, who has been playing baseball since he was three, was warming up in the batting cages with some of his teammates when a freak accident changed the course of his young life.

One of his teammates hit a line-drive right up the middle and struck him in the right temple. Caiden immediately lost consciousness and fell forward on his face. When he finally regained consciousness, he kept repeating to his mother Becca that he was “going to die.”

Caiden was transported to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite campus where a CT scan revealed a concussion, temporal bone fracture, traumatic epidural hematoma, nasal bone fractures, uncial herniation, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. He declined rapidly, aspirated, and had to be intubated before being rushed into emergency surgery.

Despite his extensive injuries, the hospital’s neurosurgery team was able to save Caiden’s life. Just four days later, he was moved from the pediatric ICU to the neurology floor where he began occupational, physical, and speech therapy.

While in recovery, Caiden discovered The Zone, a donor-funded area of the hospital that offers patients and families a distraction with arts and crafts, an Xbox and Wii room, college and professional athlete visits, a basketball court, and more.

“The Zone quickly became an instrumental part of Caiden’s recovery, allowing him to see that he would be able to get back to doing the things he loved,” his mom Becca said in a statement.

“The Zone was a great distraction from the rest of the hospital and the things Caiden was going through. It was also an amazing opportunity for his therapists to work with him on his playing field.”

Two weeks after the accident, Caiden was cleared to go home.

On February 13, 2023, exactly 10 months from the date of his accident, 15-year-old Caiden returned to the diamond to play his first varsity baseball game for North Gwinnett High School.

"It's shifted our priorities into focus," Caiden's father Tim told Fox 5 Atlanta. "I used to worry about when Caiden got on the baseball field, 'How is he going to perform?' Right? I think I'm just blessed to see him walk on to the baseball field."

Welcome back, Caiden!

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