Teen hit in the heart by baseball returns to the field
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- He's waited. He's watched others. But, Walker Johnson wasn't allowed to play ball like he used to in Spring Branch. Until today.
"It feels so natural to me," said Walker Johnson.
Friday afternoon, doctors gave Walker the 'all clear' to get back on the baseball field.
His parents snapped a picture of him inside Texas Children's Hospital with a smile and a big thumbs up.
"Oh my God it felt so great to know I could do things again," said Johnson.
The 14-year-old took a massive hit from a baseball to his chest during a game last March.
Doctors say, the impact of the ball hit him directly in his heart...during the middle of a heartbeat, causing his heart to stop.
"I cherish a lot differently now. I take my time wisely realize this is my second chance and I could do something with it," said Johnson.
He began breathing again. He spent a week in the hospital. The experience of almost losing their child changed the Johnson family.
Johnson was asked to give the opening pitch out at an Astros game on his birthday last summer. A great perk, though their lesson was intangible.
"Just to slow down and not take a moment for granted because it could be taken away so fast," said Johnson's mother Christy.
Together, the Johnson's raised 10 thousand dollars through Walker's Heart Warriors...to provide defibrillators at all baseball fields.
If Johnson had not come to on his own that day, his parents says he would have needed a life saving tool.
Walker's father who was there when his son collapsed described how he is feeling now, "Unbelievable what's happen. And the fact that he gets to get out and play with his friends again and and do all the things he loves to do."
