18-year-old track and field star Parker Kennedy recently graduated from Hood River Valley High School in Oregon. Kennedy is already preparing to continue his athletic career as a pole vaulter at the University of Washington in the fall.
At the USA Track & Field meet in Portland this past week, however, Kennedy pierced his eye with a javelin during warm up.
The javelin is an 8-foot-long spear with a sharp metal tip that athletes are supposed to throw as far as possible. The combination of the equipment and the activity make the javelin toss the most dangerous event out of all the track and field activities. Only 20 states across the country have not banned the javelin toss as one of their track and field events.
Kennedy was warming up for the aforementioned event when he tripped and fell onto his javelin. He’d just completed a warm up toss and had gone to retrieve the javelin when everything went wrong.
The javelin had been sticking out of the ground at a 45-degree angle, said the head coach of Hood River Valley High School’s track and field team. Kennedy “literally tripped and fell. His spikes caught in the grass and [the javelin] was the wrong angle and the javelin pierced his eye.”
Someone very quickly removed the javelin from Kennedy’s head, and he was immediately air-lifted to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland for treatment.
Thankfully, the doctors noted that the javelin had missed the center of Kennedy’s eyeball, as well as his brain. The javelin ended up piercing part of Kennedy’s eye and had proceeded downward, toward his mouth.
It has since been reported that Kennedy did not suffer any brain damage and can already see out of his damaged eye. The doctors will be able to restore his eyesight after corrective surgery and overall, Kennedy is well on his way to recovery.
