ATLANTA — The Jefferson High School wrestler who broke his neck while competing in the state tournament last week is continuing to improve after undergoing multiple surgeries.
Dominic “Dom” Haines was wrestling in the quarterfinals of the state tournament when he fell awkwardly toward the end of his match.
On Monday, his parents, Shantel and Zach, posted an update to Facebook.
“Last night was the best night Dominic has had so far,” his father wrote on Facebook. “He pretty much slept throughout the entire night.”
“He can feel pressure above the knee like he can tell they’re touching him, but the sensation isn’t that strong on the surface,” he added. “Right above his abs and higher he can feel all sensations. Which is about the same area, maybe a little lower, but the sensation he’s feeling today is better.”
Initially, Haines didn’t have any feeling from his shoulders down, but his family said that they’re starting to see improvements.
Still, his family confirmed that he will undergo another surgery later this week.
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“The surgeons just came in, and he needs another surgery Thursday to fuse the vertebrae from the back since the muscles and ligaments were all completely torn,” he wrote. “They’ll fuse two above and two below the fractured vertebrae to give his neck more stability. It’s needed because there’s nothing stabilizing his neck right now. The scar will be about 3 inches or so starting from the base of his skull and go down. He’ll more than likely lose about 25% of his range of motion in his neck. They also said he’ll be in a substantial amount of pain from this procedure compared to the other because it’ll be more involved.”
Jefferson High School wrestling head coach Kyle Baird told Channel 2 Action News that he has had the opportunity to visit Haines in the hospital.
“It’s one of those freak things that doesn’t happen,” Baird told Channel 2’s Michael Seiden.
Baird said he didn’t think it was that serious at first, but quickly realized his wrestler was severely injured. He said he tried to keep his team calm while Dominic was taken to a nearby hospital.
“Nothing that went on in that whole sequence was, was outside of any kind of wrestling,” he said.
Baird said it was the toughest moment of his coaching career, but he’s grateful for the support that he and his team have received since the injury.
“You know kids have a lot of questions,” he said. “Being able to have a lot of people who care for those kids as a wrestling community is very important.”
“There was a lot of prayers going on,” Baird said. “I think the kids did a very good job of compartmentalizing what was going on.”
Before the injury in the quarterfinals, Baird said Haines was focused and determined to win a state championship.
“If this had not happened, I think he would have achieved that goal of being the state champion,” Baird said.
At the end of the tournament, coaches from other 3A schools honored Haines by naming him one of the most outstanding wrestlers in the state competition.
“I think he is prepared to fight through this,” Baird said. “He can be strong and work hard through the whole process to get himself back to where he needs to be.”
Haines is expected to have a very long road to recovery. His family has launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for their medical expenses.
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