Freak inflatable waterslide accident leaves Georgia teacher paralyzed: ‘It’s devastating’
A Georgia teacher is on the road to recovery after a freak accident involving an inflatable waterslide left her paralyzed from the chest down.
Valerie Feske, a teacher in the Savannah-area city of Richmond Hill, sustained serious spinal cord injuries after falling from a slip n’ slide during a neighborhood event over Memorial Day weekend, local station WTOC-TV reported. She was transported to a hospital with serious spinal cord injuries.
“The kids were playing and Val being Valerie, being the life of the party, decided that she was going to play with the kids and all of the adults were being boring,” Feske’s husband, Brent Feske, told the news station. “She was up there playing and what happen(ed) was one of the kids ended up colliding with her just in the absolute wrong way.
“It’s devastating, you know, to think that a fun Memorial Day weekend waterslide could be a life-changing event like this,” he added.
Family friend Jennifer Price said it all seemed to happen “in a split second.”
“She was super happy, laughing, having a great time — and everything changed,” Price said, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Feske, who teaches middle school, underwent surgery and has regained some movement in her arms and feeling in her chest, the station reported, citing relatives. Brent Feske said he’s “proud” of the progress his wife is making but says she still has a ways to go.
“She is slowly building back her strength and coordination,” he wrote in an update posted to Facebook on Wednesday. “Lots of arm exercises this time and this time I witnessed her begin to sit up and use her arms to hold herself steady. Always working hard.”
A GoFundMe campaign launched on her behalf raised nearly $38,000 in donations as of Thursday, May 28. The funds will help the family with “staggering medical costs,” equipment and assistance as Feske continues recovering, the fundraiser’s web page states.
Valerie Feske has also received an outpouring of support from members of her local community who banded together for a special photo in her honor. Sporting pink and green t-shirts, dozens of family, friends and neighbors smiled and posed with a banner that read “#ValsVillage,” according to photo shared on Brent Feske’s Facebook page Wednesday.
“Yesterday evening our neighborhood organized a neighborhood support photo for Valerie,” he wrote. “It had a remarkable turnout (see attached). When I showed her the photo it brought her to tears. She couldn’t believe how many people went out of their way to go and take that photo. Thanks to the best neighborhood ever!”
The doting husband added that all the well wishes and support have been “mind blowing.”
Valerie Feske is now rehabilitating at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, WSB-TV reported.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Freak inflatable waterslide accident leaves Georgia teacher paralyzed: ‘It’s devastating’."