WLHS student, mother, praise community’s help in time of unforeseen crisis

Landon Caraway did not know it but he was minutes away from a helicopter ride to a Macon hospital.

The West Laurens High School junior was not thinking about any potential danger. And why would he? Caraway and the rest of those attending the Monday, Sept. 21 powder puff game at The SHU were having fun. 

After all, it was homecoming week, and on that night, many had gathered at the high school’s football stadium to watch the juniors and seniors reverse roles with the girls playing football while the guys cheered.

A ride in one of Air Evac’s helicopters was nowhere close to being in Caraway’s mind as he was tossed up into the air. It was not going up, that was necessarily bad. It was the way he came down and landed. 

This incident was not even seen by his mother, Candi Powell. She was sitting in the stands across the field on the home side of the stadium. She was unaware that anything was wrong. She did not know that this joyful and fun homecoming festivity had taken a serious turn.

“We’ll never forget that day,” Powell said. 

A stunt that did not go as planned…

Besides knowing that her son was going to be cheering, Powell had no idea the guys were going to be doing that particular stunt. Caraway said they had practiced it before. Yes, there was one person who had replaced someone else, but there were really no big concerns. Hours before the incident, Powell recalls standing in the kitchen with her son. She hugged him before he left and told him to be careful with his back flips.

“He had that down pat,” she recalled. “On the way to the game, I never thought about the danger.”

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Powell saw a golf cart with a siren dart across the field. She told her husband Joey that someone’s child must have gotten hurt. She thought nothing of it until her daughter, Hadley, leaned over and said, “Momma, I think that’s Landon.”

This began Powell’s journey from the stands to her son.

“I took off,” Powell said. “I kept calling his phone hoping he would answer.”

There was no answer. Halfway to her son she saw her daughter Marleigh crying. 

“Then I took off running,” Powell said. 

Only moments before, Caraway had been tossed in the air. 

“Instead of going straight up, I was tossed a little more back,” he said when recalling the stunt. “I went back and landed on my head.” 

Powell later saw a video of the accident. Her son was thrown straight up in the air and his body started flipping backwards, landing on his head and neck.

“In the video, I can tell where I lost consciousness because I was laying on the ground and not moving for 15 to 30 seconds,” Caraway said. “At first, I think some of them thought I was joking.” 

This was no joke though. Caraway was seriously injured.. 

“On my concussion protocol, it said I lost consciousness for an amount of time,” he said. “Eventually, I was able to talk.” 

A friend helped Caraway get near a wall so that he was not straining to sit up. Every two minutes people kept asking Caraway his name and did he know where he was at.

“When I got over there, someone from the school was with him,” Powell said. “EMS was there checking his eyes and responses. They were checking his vitals and told me that his blood pressure kept dropping.” 

Powell held a small box fan on her son to keep him cool and conscious. Medical workers started touching his spine and neck before walking away for a discussion. They returned to inform Powell an ambulance was on the way. They then checked a spot on Caraway and talked some more. They returned to tell Powell that it had been recommended for her son to be flown to a Macon hospital.

“There was a spot that they were concerned about on his neck as far as a spinal injury,” she said.

Flying to Macon…

Caraway had no idea he was about to fly anywhere. He had been in an ambulance for about 15 minutes when he heard the helicopter was on its way.

“I felt fine at that point and felt like nothing was wrong with me,” Caraway said. “When I heard the helicopter was on its way, I began thinking it must be worse than I felt.”

Powell was informed by emergency workers that they believe Caraway was in shock because he was only giving one word answers.

“I don’t remember them asking me questions,” he said. 

His mother, though, was asking questions.

“They really could not give me an answer,” Powell said. “They were not sure at that point what was wrong and if it was a spinal or neck injury. They would not know until they got him to the trauma unit.” 

Powell was hoping to be able to fly with her son to Macon.  

“I started walking toward the helicopter with them and the pilot turned around and said, “Ma’am, you can’t go with us.” And that’s when I lost it,” Powell said. 

There was not enough room for her to be in the helicopter. There was only space for the pilot, the Air Evac nurse and Caraway.

“It was very loud,” he said. “They were carting me over on the backboard and they were putting me into the helicopter. The blades were so loud. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. It felt like your ear drums were about to pop. There was not a lot of space in there. I had to stay stiff the whole time.” 

The next thing he knew, the helicopter was lifting off into the sky over his high school. 

“I remember getting in the air and I could see out of the corner of my eye,” Caraway said. “I remember seeing all of the bright lights when we were in the air. It was dark.” 

For Powell, it was hard watching the helicopter fly away with her injured son. Thankfully the nurse updated Powell on her son’s vitals and how far out they were from the hospital.

“Every three minutes she was texting my phone,” she said. 

Medical workers were not sure at first which hospital they were taking Caraway. They just knew they were going to Macon.

“It took them a little bit to reply which hospital they were heading to,” Powell said. “About 10 minutes after they were in the air, they notified me where they were going. They told me to take my time.”

Take your time? Right. By then, Powell and her husband were heading to Macon. But they were not alone, and prayers were being lifted up for everyone involved.

Stepping up…

While Caraway was flying to Macon, the community he left behind was looking after and helping his family. So many people stepped up to help Powell and her family without them asking. 

“They jumped in with my other kids and looked after them,” Powell said. “Many walked up to me and Joey and prayed with us.”

When a loved-one is injured or hurt, time seems to slow down. And though the information was coming in, it always seems to take longer. 

“That is how it felt,” Powell said. “That night taught me that when you are in an emergency, you are not going to get answers right then, and rightly so. They didn’t want to tell me he’s fine because they didn’t know. It was a slow waiting game.” 

Around 7:52 p.m. on Sept. 21, Powell had a chance to type out a quick Facebook post asking people to pray for her son. Powell did not have to worry about driving since they were being chauffeured up I-16 by Dudley Baptist Church Children’s Minister Paul Leigh. By the time they arrived, Dudley Baptist’s Pastor Matt Greene and Student Minister Clint Crozier were there along with Powell’s friends Tara Bradshaw and Britt Evans. 

“We showed up and they were there waiting on us,” Powell said. “They wanted to be there and be present. Just them being there really said a lot.”

About 10 minutes later, hospital workers reunited her with her son in the emergency room. Scans had been completed and precautionary tests were being done. Thankfully, everything came back good.

Hours later, Caraway was discharged from the hospital. They were going home. 

Around 12:53 a.m. on Sept. 22, Powell put out another post, informing family and friends they were on their way back to Laurens County and she had a long list of people to thank. 

Something positive…

Caraway returned to school on Sept. 23, but he would not be able to stay the whole day. The lights were too bright, so he was allowed to sit in a dark room. The principal could tell he was not feeling good, so Caraway was allowed to call his mother to pick him up. At least he got the chance to see the response from his classmates.

“Everybody was so loving,” Caraway said. “Even though I came back (on Sept. 23), they let me know that they were still praying for me. Everyone around me made sure that I noticed that the community was there for me.” 

Looking back, both Caraway and Powell and their family were overwhelmed with how many reached out or stepped up to help with either prayers or other situations during the crisis.

“It really leaves you with a feeling of gratitude,” he said. “The outcomes could have been far worse.” 

Caraway mentioned James 4:14, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (New International Version).

“When I look at that, I realize that God is not done with my life,” Caraway said. “He is giving me a second chance.” 

On Friday, Oct. 2, 11 days after the stunt went wrong, Caraway and Powell stood outside Dublin City Hall to take some pictures. His follow up with doctors showed no side effects from his fall. 

The night of Sept. 21 is now a reminder of how life can change in the blink of an eye. There was a scary and traumatic situation where no one had any answers. What stood out from all of this was the responses from everyone at the school, EMS workers, church family and friends who gave encouragement and prayers when things were spinning out of control.

“That showed us that it doesn’t matter who you are, we were seen that night, loved on and cared about,” Powell said. “People were there when we needed them. That was probably the most frightening night of my life because I did not know what was happening. We were shown how thankful we are to be a part of this community. I cannot stress how fast people were in response to the accident. It’s like everybody knew their place and they knew what to do. It was amazing to see everyone jump in. Out of the bad, came something positive.”