Aaron Horsley ''doing fantastic,'' says mother

A 17-year-old Hesperia High School student dragged behind a truck on October 10 is recovering well.

Aaron Horsley was riding an off-road motorcycle on city streets near the intersection of Redwood Avenue and Kimball Street when a white Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck with temporary license plates struck him. Witnesses reported seeing Horsley dragged for a block as the motorist reportedly veered back and forth, attempting to shake the boy loose.

Doctors at Loma Linda Medical Center have performed multiple operations on Horsley, including fusing his upper spinal column (vertebrae T2 through T9), and reconstructing his left hand.

"Well, he's actually doing fantastic," Marilyn Horsley, the boy's mother, said Wednesday morning. "They've taken the [tracheostomy tube to assist with his breathing] out of him this week. He has everything out of him except for one [intravenous tube], which hopefully they'll take out of him this week. He's talking. It's amazing, he's just doing so well. He starts physical therapy in a couple of weeks."

And later on Wednesday, Horsley got a new set of wheels.

"They're going to sit him up in a wheelchair today for the first time."

Horsley was initially paralyzed from the chest down, but as his condition has improved, the paralysis has diminished, and he is now paralyzed from mid-thigh down.

"It's still there, but anything can happen," she said. Horsley has felt nurses touching his toes previously, although not consistently. "As the spine heals more and more, who knows what's going to happen."

And despite the nature of his injuries, Horsley's mother says his spirits remain relatively high.

"He's never shown any anger, anything like that. His spirits are so good," she said. "He's just an amazing kid."

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.