CLAY, W.Va. — Two Clay County teenagers are on the mend after a four wheeler accident while deer hunting last week.
Clay County football coach Jason Nichols said two of his players, Junior Brayden Goodwin and Sophomore Blake Boggs were riding a four wheeler which overturned.
“They were going on some wet roads, lost control, and threw them over the hill,” he said.
The two boys, cousins, are as close as brothers, said Kimberly Goodwin, Blakes’s mother. She said the boys were riding double on the four wheeler on a wet road and lost control when they hit a patch of leaves on the pavement, causing them to skid into the guardrail.
Brayden was thrown over the embankment, Goodwin said, but Blake, who was driving, struck an extended guardrail post.
“The guardrail is normal guardrail height, but there’s a post where they’ve built it up since the flood came through. That post ripped him open,” she said.
She arrived at the scene after getting the call no parent ever wants about 7 a.m. EMS was already on the scene.
“I saw Brayden first a little over the hill and he was sitting up, that eased my mind to see he wasn’t bleeding and I asked, ‘Where’s Blake.’ They said, ‘Blake’s not okay.’ I look down the hill and he was laying there, not moving, strapped to a backboard. That’s what no mom wants to see,” she said.
According to Goodwin, her son suffered severe internal injuries to his abdomen including internal tears, spinal injuries, a crushed pelvis, and his femoral artery was cut.
Brayden was treated and released and continues his recovery from a minor knee injury. Boggs however remained hospitalized Monday and has gone through a several surgical procedures and more are scheduled. He remained in the Intensive Care Unit of CAMC.
Goodwin said prayers from across the country have been coming in for the boys, and family members are appreciative of all of those who have shown compassion and concern.