13-Year-Old from North Texas Fractures Spine After Diving into Pool Trying to Evade Wasp

"You never expect it to be your story until it is," Anya Camper said of her son SJ Williams' injuries following the accident

• SJ Williams, 13, fractured his spine after diving into the shallow end of a pool while trying to flee a wasp on June 20
  

• The North Texas teenager's family has said he's "making progress, albeit slowly" amid his recovery
  

• "When it comes to your front door it shakes you, that's exactly what it’s done for us," SJ's mom, Anya Camper, said, per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

A 13-year-old has been severely injured after diving into a North Texas community pool while running away from a wasp.

On June 20, 2024, SJ Williams headed to the pool to swim with friends, but his and his family's lives "completely changed in a matter of moments" when he dove into the shallow end while trying to escape the wasp, per a GoFundMe page set up by the family.

The teenager was taken to hospital where the family was told his spinal cord "had been severed so badly that he will not have use of his legs and arms," according to the GoFundMe page.

Per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, SJ — whose full name is Semyon Williams Jr. — was at the pool in Old Orchard Park in Frisco when the incident took place before he underwent surgery at Children's Health in Dallas. The outlet stated the family is from Little Elm.

Related: Romeo Miller Says He Was Unable to Walk Due to Spinal Injury After 'Horrific' Car Accident

The GoFundMe page confirmed that SJ had been admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and that the fractured bones were repaired. "However, the spinal cord is the main stem of the body, and we’re being told it's not repairable," the description on the site stated.

"He said all he remembers after the jump, is floating face down in the pool thinking that his arm was floating next to him (because he couldn’t feel it). He said he thought he was going to drown because he couldn’t move, so he was just swallowing water," the family's message added.

His friends assumed SJ was "floating and playing at first," but quickly realized that wasn't the case.

In an update shared on the page on day eight of the teenager's recovery, the family revealed he was making "progress, albeit slowly," and was now eating regular food and drinking normally after passing his swallow study.

So far, the GoFundMe page has raised almost $52,000 of their $100,000 goal.

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SJ's mother, Anya Camper, said, per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, "You hear about things like this, you see things like this, you never expect it to be your story until it is. When it comes to your front door it shakes you, that's exactly what it’s done for us."

"When he (a physician) said quadriplegic when he said those words, that's a different type of feeling," she added, per the outlet.

"We are people of faith and we have an army of people praying for him," Anya shared. “We’re believing that anything, a miracle, will happen."

Related: Michigan Nurse Paralyzed After Sustaining Spinal Fracture from Horseback Riding Accident

SJ's grandfather, Louis Camper, said, "The reality is, this is a long road. This is going to be a marathon for us and we have to support him and be with him every step of the way," according to the publication.

"It hits at the core," he went on, adding, "At 13 years old, you're only just beginning to live, you know."

Mom of three Anya, who left her job to be by her son's side, according to the outlet, said, “As a mom, it's just really heartbreaking; I’m literally helpless. As a mom you’re supposed to fix things, and I can’t fix it. So I’m just praying for help in any kind of way."

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