Fort Worth

Burleson Student Remains in ICU After Fall from Pickup Truck

A Burleson High School football player who fractured his skull in a fall from a parked pickup truck Saturday remains in the ICU at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth on Monday, his father said.

Jonathan Lopez, a junior defensive lineman for the Burleson Elks, had just eaten dinner with his friends at Buffalo Wild Wings when he fell from the back of a truck parked in the parking lot.

"Freak accident," explained the teen's father, Jose Lopez. "It's just one of those things that could happen to anybody."

Jose Lopez said the truck on which his son was sitting lurched, causing his son to lose balance and hit his head on the tailgate and cement. He said the fall fractured his son's skull and caused significant head trauma and swelling of his brain. There was internal bleeding in the hours after the injury, but that has subsided, he said.

"It's just going to be a process," Jose Lopez said. "But we do expect him to recover fully."

That might not include playing the sport Jonathan Lopez loves.

"I don't think football might be something we're looking at doing anytime soon," Jose Lopez said. "If at all." 

The teen's father said his family remains hopeful he will get well enough to be released from the hospital for home care in the next few days.

In a post on Facebook, Burleson Elks head football coach Gary McElroy said Sunday that doctors recommended Jonathan Lopez have minimal stimulation so that he can rest. McElroy added the swelling, which had stopped but not gone down, was the major concern.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. You can find a link to it here

NBC 5's Alex Russell contributed to this report.

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