A Missouri teenager was left instantly paralyzed after he was crushed by 800lbs worth of tables while he worked for an event company as he adjusts to life being confined to a wheelchair.
Jordan Ayers, 18, was just three weeks into his new job when multiple tables fell on him inside a truck on June 8 in Pacific, Missouri.
As he grabbed the one, the rest of the folding tables toppled down, leading him to hit his head, throw him back, and hit his neck.
Ayers had just graduated high school and celebrated his birthday before the life-changing incident. He has since gotten stronger in rehab and hopes that he will be able to walk again one day.
‘You have to be positive being like this but everyone helps me so much. They brighten my day every day,’ Ayers told KMOV.
Jordan Ayers, 18, was crushed by 800lbs worth of tables in a box truck during his third week working for an event company on June 8 in Pacific, Missouri
Ayres has since been released from the hospital and is in rehab five days a week and has a bit more mobility in his body
The teen said he knew that he was ‘instantly paralyzed’ after he was slammed into a piece of metal inside the company’s box truck.
According to his mother Tabitha Hardy, the impact of the crush shoved his C5 disc up into his spinal cord. The C5 disc is located in the lower cervical spine, in the neck area.
The teen told his mother he was unable to move as soon as he was crushed. His shoulders and elbows were immobile, and he could only communicate by mouthing words.
Ayers quit his job at the event company, which has not been named, but is located in Fenton, Missouri.
His mother told KSDK in June that she did not hear from the company following the accident.
‘They have said nothing. They’ve not contacted me and said sorry. They’ve not gave me his last check. Nothing at all,’ Hardy said.
The teenager adjusted to his new life as he spends five days a week in rehab and has become wheelchair-bound.
‘I was scared because I didn’t want to be like this. It’s different whenever you’re in a chair,’ he said.
Ayers had just graduated high school and celebrated his birthday before the life-changing accident
His mother, Tabitha Hardy, said in June that she did not hear anything from the event company following the accident and that her son did not receive his final paycheck
The Jefferson county community has also been extremely supportive to both Ayers and his family during this difficult adjustment. Kevin Wilson, a school resource officer who knew Ayers when he was a student almost immediately jumped in to help.
‘This kid had so many goals and such a bright future. I knew automatically I needed to try to help him out,’ Wilson said.
The resource officer then shared Ayers’s story with Sam Muehlenbeck, a school district employee who wanted to help out as well.
‘Immediately as a mom, I thought, “Man this could have been my son,” so whatever I could do to help, I was going to do,’ Muehlenbeck said.
Wilson and Muehlenbeck then decided the teen and his family would need an accessible ramp at their house for Ayers to use.
With the help of Muehlenbeck’s husband and a crew, a ramp was installed outside the family’s home.
Materials for the ramp were donated by Lowe’s and a shed was also gifted as a place to store all of Ayers’s supplies.
The teen said he is ‘very grateful’ to everyone who has helped and that he hopes he will one day walk again.
The teen said that he is ‘very grateful’ to everyone who has helped and that he hopes he will one day walk again
With the help of a school resource officer and school district employee that knew and heard of Ayers story, they donated and built a ramp for him outside of the family’s home
Ayers’s mother also said he has suffered from depression during this long and painful journey, but has gotten help for that as well
‘Whenever I first got hurt, I couldn’t move anything but I could shrug my shoulders a little bit. Now I have most of my arms and I can do a lot more,’ he said.
His mother also said that he has suffered from depression during this long and painful journey, but has gotten help for that as well.
‘You have to be positive being like this but everyone helps me so much. They brighten my day every day,’ Ayers said.
A GoFundMe page has been created in honor of the teen and his family as they continue to navigate their new way of life.
On November 8, Hardy posted an update on the page which revealed that donated funds helped the family afford to stay with Ayers at the hospital before he returned home.
‘He is so strong. I am so very proud of his accomplishments and strength through such a traumatic situation,’ his mother said on the donation page.
