Utah high school student Ryan Bean could have died on Saturday, after he hit his head while trying to flip into a pool.
But thanks to his friend Tyson, the active 15-year-old is alive and well – and back at school by choice.
Ryan had been at a party with Tyson Parker on the weekend when he decided to flip off a waterslide, into the water. He’d asked his friend to film the trick, and Tyson had obliged.
But when Ryan failed to resurface, his friend dived in to retrieve him before calling for help, the St George News reported.
Ryan Bean, 15, nearly died on Saturday after performing a backflip that went horrifically wrong
By the time he was dragged out. Ryan had been underwater for 40 seconds and was not responding.
‘I was so scared,’ Tyson said. ‘When I brought him up, his face was purple, so I didn’t really know what to do.’
Moments later, Ryan regained consciousness and coughed out blood and water.
He was rushed to the local hospital, before he was airlifted to a more specialized children’s facility in Salt Lake City, where excess water was drained from his lungs, and oxygen machines were placed on his face.
Bean, who had apparently been doing the flip all day, asked his friend Tyson to film him doing it one last time. But the teenager hit his head on rocks and did not resurface
The footage Tyson filmed shows Ryan flip out, and then sink to the bottom of the pool, where he is motionless
Ryan had a severe concussion, and spent three days in hospital before he was discharged.
The teenager will still need time to recover, something his mother Laura says he will struggle with, as he’s been performing flips and tricks since he was a child, and has never been one for long stretches of lounging around.
Ryan was underwater for about 40 seconds before he was dragged out by Tyson, who realized his friend wasn’t joking around
Laura told friends on a Facebook page dedicated to her son’s recovery that the incident had ‘put life into perspective’, and left her feeling incredibly lucky – not just for her son’s life, but for the strong family and community bonds that quickly rallied to support the family.
‘I am so grateful for a son who is so resilient and persistent and determined and strong,’ she wrote.
‘He really is amazing and I know will recover faster than most in this situation. His determination blows me away sometimes.’
The mother-of-three could be right. Ryan returned to school on Wednesday, just one day after his discharge, because he ‘felt like going’.
Laura says Ryan has learned from the incident, and while she doubted he would stop flipping and performing other physical tricks, she believes he will be more aware of the danger, and hopefully a bit more cautious.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for Ryan’s medical bills, including his emergency airlift.
When Ryan regained consciousness, he coughed up blood and water and was rushed to hospital. He was then airlifted to a specialist ICU ward for treatment, and was discharged on Tuesday