CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A 9-year-old survivor recently had two youth football teams celebrating his touchdown during a Wednesday night game in Broward County.
James Edwards, a resilient third-grade student and wheelchair user, was playing flag football for the Steelers, one of the teams of the Parkland Flag Football league.
His mother, Jenna Edwards, was on the sideline. She recorded a video and shared it with his more than 40,000 followers on Facebook.
“What a moment of love, sportsmanship and kindness! Go James,” Connie Tortora wrote.
James survived a near-drowning on May 30, 2014, in his family swimming pool in Coral Springs. He spent about two months at the Chris Evert Children’s Hospital.
James suffered an anoxic brain injury, the death of brain cells after a complete lack of oxygen. He was released from the hospital on the day he turned 2 and has been in treatment ever since.
“Everybody at school came up to him today. Apparently, he was the talk of the third grade, so he has been very excited,” Edwards said on Thursday afternoon.
The community is still rooting for James. He will be undergoing hip surgery on Tuesday in Jacksonville if he tests negative for the coronavirus this Friday.