12-year-old boy wakes from coma, back home after school hallway beating
Five days after 12-year-old Henry Sembdner was allegedly beaten into a coma in a school hallway last week, the boy’s family took to Twitter to share some good news: he’s awake and resting at home.
The boy’s story went viral this week, as students, community members and even Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo pledged their support for the middle schooler with the hashtag #HenryStrong.
“Heard you are a big Cubs fan Henry. When you are better I have a couple tickets and BP passes waiting for you at Wrigley. #StayStrong,” Rizzo tweeted on Monday.
Another student at Kenyon Woods Middle School in South Elgin, Illinois allegedly slammed Henry to the ground on Friday after the 7th-grader apparently bumped into him between classes, reports CBS Chicago. Henry suffered multiple face fractures and bleeding in the brain. As a result of his serious injuries, he was placed in a medically induced coma at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Henry has showed signs of improvement each day, which his mom has been chronicling in an online blog that she opened to the public.
“He’s awake!” Henry’s mom, Karen Sembdner, wrote in a blog post on Monday. “They just removed the intubation. And guess what he said - ‘I’m Hungry!’”
On Tuesday night, Sembdner announced with a photo that Henry made it home.
“You heard it here first...Henry is Home,” Sembdner tweeted, along with a picture, to Rizzo.
“Glad you are home Buddy. Keep staying #HenryStrong,” Rizzo replied. “See you at Wrigley this summer.”
While Henry is looking forward to meeting Rizzo, he still has a long road ahead, his mother said.
“We are happy to be home, but this is just a baby step on the road to recovery,” Sembdner posted in a Tuesday blog post. “Over the next couple days we will be scheduling follow up visits with 10 different doctors and rest. We are hopeful that we will not have any backslides and will continue to post as the recovery journey unveils.”
Officials at School District U-46 haven’t revealed many details about the student believed to have caused Henry’s injuries. Both Henry’s school and the school district have not returned CBS News’ requests for further comment.
South Elgin police confirmed to CBS Chicago that the student was taken into custody Friday and then released to his parents. The Kane County State’s Attorney’s office is considering an array of possible charges against the student accused of the attack.
