Jeremiah Hart was walking with mom and sister Saturday at Firewheel Town Center in Garland when police say a driver, who was trying to park, hit the gas instead of the break. The vehicle jumped the curb, hit Jeremiah and pinned him up against a wall.
“I was screaming and asking for help and she backed the car away and he was still stuck to the wall,” said Bridgett Heart, Jeremiah’s mother. “So, I ran over and pulled him off the wall and laid him down, I got down beside him and he wanted to pray and so we immediately started praying to Jesus.”
Jeremiah was rushed to Children Health Dallas where he underwent an eight-hour surgery and remains in the trauma care unit. He has severe damage to his left leg, a fractured knee cap on his right leg and damage to multiple organs, according to Hart.
“In the morning time before we left the house, Jeremiah was praying, and I told him it was time to go and he came out and said, 'Mama, I just read Psalms 91,' and that psalm is the psalm of protection,” Hart said. “I truly believed that is what saved his life, that he prayed that over himself and read that - he’s a prayer warrior and he’s going to pull through.”
Three days after the accident, Hart says Jeremiah wiggled the toes on his left leg on command for the first time. It’s something that gives her hope.
“My hope for him is that all of his organs work property, and that whether they have to amputate or not, it’s not going to slow him down, and that he will be back on that soccer field playing no matter what,” Hart said.
Jeremiah goes to school at Smith Elementary in Wylie. He works as a leader at his church greeting new members. He loves to camp and shoot his BB gun, but most of all he loves to play soccer.
His team, the Hulks 06’, has rallied to help. Coach Jonathan Tran started a GoFundMe account to raise money to help pay for Jeremiah’s treatment and recovery.
“He’s the greatest boy you could ever have,” Tran said. “He’s got a huge heart and he just tries so hard.”
The Wylie Soccer Association, rival teams, the Wylie Independent School District and others have stepped up to help, according to Tran.
“Especially with the holiday season, it’s good to see just how gracious everyone is at this time,” Tran said. “You have other teams in the league we play against, they’re our rivals, but they’re donating as well to support him and get back on the field to play.”
“I hope that he stands up one day and gives his testimony and he feels proud of how he has come along and recovered, and all of the peoples’ lives he has already touched at this age of nine,” Hart said.
CLICK HERE to donate to Jeremiah's fundraising account.
