It's 8:30 a.m. on a recent Friday, when Maurice Freeman normally would be settling into his first-period ROTC class at Mundy's Mill High School. Instead, he is at Rehab South in the middle of a muscle-and-balance-building workout to repair his body, which was decimated in a hit-and-run accident last fall.
Freeman, who turns 17 on Jan. 24, was walking to school on the morning of Oct. 11 when he was struck by a car while crossing Ga. 54. He was left in the road severely injured, less than half a mile from the high school. The case is unsolved, and Freeman's family and Clayton County police still hope to find a suspect or a witness.
The accident left the Jonesboro teenager with a broken skull and blood around his brain, a broken back, broken pelvis, broken tailbone and a lacerated kidney. Despite the horrific injuries, Freeman has made substantial progress, moving from a walker to crutches to one crutch. At a glance, there's little to show the trauma he's endured except for a slight limp and occasional stumbling when he's not on his crutch.
"He's a walking miracle," said Dody Deavours, clinic director at Rehab South.
But now he is facing the possibility of paralysis as doctors have discovered a dangerous growth on his spine. The family is waiting for test results due in mid-February.
This latest news is another jolt for a family already trying to adjust to their sharply altered life. Medical bills have climbed to more than $200,000. Insurance is expected to pay some of the bills, but the family will still incur thousands of dollars in payments.
"It's really exhausting to keep opening them up and realize you don’t have the money," said Freeman's mother, Erica Browning. "I thought I could come up with a Plan B, but it’s hard."
So, too, are the emotional twists and turns that accompany his recovery. His family had hoped he'd be returning to school soon. For now, the 11th-grader is home schooled through Clayton County.
Earlier this month, the family -- which includes Freeman, his mother, father and three younger sisters -- learned about the growth on the teen's spine. It is unclear what the prognosis fully means, but one thing is clear: His dreams of joining the Air Force or Marines are vanquished.
The night before the growth was discovered, Freeman dreamed spiders were chasing him. The growth ironically is called arachnoid cyst because it resembles a spider web, but it is fluid coming from the cyst.
"We just knew he was on the road to recovery," Browning said. "We were expecting to put this behind us and move on but now with this. ... This is allowing us to relive this [accident] all over again."
The ordeal has left Browning emotionally spent.
"I've had a few good cries and a few good intimate conversations with the Lord," she said. "In the end, I believe he'll be all right because I have that comforter."
Meanwhile, Clayton County police are still no closer to finding a suspect in the hit-and-run. Police spokeswoman Lt. Tina Daniel said it is not uncommon for a hit-and-run case to go this long without being solved. There are no leads, and the description of the vehicle is vague.
"Unfortunately, hit-and-runs aren't solved like they are on TV," Daniel said.
Freeman doesn't remember much about the accident nor does he give much thought about the person responsible. The day of the accident, the young man lay in the road for minutes as other cars swerved around him before he was discovered and aided by Callaway Elementary School Principal Marcus Fuller, who had taken a different route to work that day.
"I have lots of homework I have to try to finish," Freeman said. "Lots of makeup work. I've got a graduation test coming up. I'm trying to keep my mind off everything else. I have physical therapy sessions and doctors' appointments I'm worried about and future goals to try to accomplish."
While his goals may have changed, his resolve is firm. He's considering becoming a biology teacher or doctor now.
Meanwhile, his mother still holds out hope that a witness or the person who hit her son will come forward.
"There needs to be some closure. I want the person who did it to be responsible," Browning said. "... I don't want them to be content and free and feel like they got away with it."
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run accident that occurred between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Oct. 11 on Ga. 54 between the QuikTrip at Tara Boulevard and Mundy's Mill High School is urged to call the Clayton County police at 770-473-3983 and ask for Officer John Flaherty.
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