A 7-year-old’s playful day turned tragic in Colfax, Indiana, when he was accidentally run over by a golf cart, leading to severe injuries he’s now recovering from.
He was in the yard at his home in Colfax, Indiana playing on a golf cart with his sisters. He ran alongside them, chasing them and laughing.
Then, everything changed.
Lennon was accidentally run over. His body was pulled into the golf cart’s wheel well.

He was immediately airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. He was unconscious and unresponsive.
“It definitely was just a freak accident,” his cousin Jenny King said. “They were just being kids.”
For three days, Lennon was intubated in the pediatric intensive care unit, breathing and eating through a tube. Doctors said he suffered a broken jaw, liver laceration and possible broken elbow.
But the most serious injuries were to Lennon’s brain.

King said an MRI revealed four or five lesions in Lennon’s brainstem. Doctors diagnosed him with a grade 3 diffuse axonal injury, one of the most serious forms of traumatic brain injury, according to health reports.
He is awake and moving, but has minimal function on the right side of his body. Doctors are still unsure if the damage is permanent.
“At this point in time, the only movement on his right side has been he scooted his hand about half an inch at one point in time,” King said. “He can’t pick that arm up, he can’t pick his leg up, and he’s not able to sit unsupported at all by himself.”
King said Lennon has made a slow, but steady recovery.

“He’s alive, and that’s the most important thing,” she said.
But for Lennon, recovery is still a long road ahead.
He’s no longer in the ICU and is now working every day with physical, occupational and speech therapists to relearn basic movements.
“Most of the trauma was to his left side of the brain, so it affected his right side,” King said. “It’s almost stroke-like symptoms.”
King said therapists are using toys and games to test Lennon’s brain and body. So far, he’s been able to follow commands and do some physical movement.
“Every day we see small steps of improvement,” King said. “They get him up, he’s in a wheelchair, he’s doing things, and he’s exhausted after they’re finished.”

King said as the family rallies around Lennon, many in the community are also offering their support.
“The community has just stepped up huge for this family,” she said. “People that we don’t even know have really stepped up to help out, and that’s just amazing and really gives us some hope in humanity.”
“We serve a good God, and that’s all we can be — is know it’s in His hands and be as hopeful as possible,” King said.
Now, his family is holding faith that one day Lennon will be back outside, doing what he loves.
“He was outdoors all the time, running, playing, just your typical seven-year-old kid,” King said. “He loves to be outside, he loves to run and play and fish. He’s a huge fisherman.”