Injured teen recovering: Gainesville 16-year-old had surgery for a broken vertebra

After the harrowing ordeal the Hildebrant family has been through this week, even the slightest sign -- a toe wiggle in this case -- can inspire hope.

Ben Hildebrant, the 16-year-old son of Loren and Sharon Hildebrant of Gainesville, is recovering in the intensive care unit of Atlanta Medical Center after a Thursday morning surgery to repair his fractured C-5 vertebra. Ben suffered the injury in a pool accident Tuesday.

"The surgery was amazing," said his father, the pastor at Flat Creek Baptist Church in Gainesville. "It took less than an hour, and they were able to fuse the broken bone and clean everything up.

"He's in a whole lot of pain right now, which is to be expected. But before he went into surgery he was able to move a toe on his right foot, and that was one of the things we've been looking for."

Loren added that the movement was minimal, and Ben hasn't been able to duplicate it, "but it was there."

Previously, Ben, a rising junior at West Hall High School, had shown no movement in his right leg. The long-term prognosis was still unclear Thursday as officials at Atlanta Medical Center are focused on the immediate care of the injury, Loren said.

"The doctors expect him to stay in ICU for another day or two, then move down to a regular room," he said. "After that, maybe in three or four days, we'll move to Shepherd Spinal Center. They'll get into more of the long-term rehabilitation there."

Loren said his son, who played on the offensive line for the Spartans, has continued to show a positive attitude and he's hoping to be able to walk onto the football field before the season is over, even though he realizes his playing days are finished.

"It's an incredibly long road ahead of us," Loren said. "And Ben and I have been very honest with each other.

"He realizes that that part of his life is over, and now we're going to find out what the next part of his life will be. His desire is to be a preacher, and we've talked about the fact that this is going to make a strong testimony one day ... it's going to give him the ability to empathize with people that have gone through very traumatic situations in life."

Among others, Ryan Bozarth, 17, and Emily Taylor, 15, pulled Hildebrant out of the water after he suffered the injury diving into Taylor's pool. Loren Hildebrant has credited the teens with saving his son's life.

Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20070803/localnews/188413.shtml