Teen recovering after freak soccer accident

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A southeast Houston teen is recovering in the hospital after a freak accident on the soccer field.

Edwin Saldivar, 17, had to undergo surgery for a perforated small intestine he sustained during a summer soccer league game in southeast Houston on July 10. The J. Frank Dobie High School senior tells Eyewitness News he took the ball away from an opposing player. Then they both fell.

"He just happened to land with his knee straight up into my abdomen," said Saldivar.

Saldivar was rushed to Memorial Hermann Southeast, where doctors had to remove 16 inches of his small intestine because it was torn in several places. That's when reality hit.

"I felt like, how will this affect me in the future?" Saldivar said.

Soccer is his passion, but his grades are just as important. Saldivar, the captain of his high school soccer team and a member of National Honor Society, had planned on using both to obtain a college scholarship.

"I was hoping. I'm still hoping. That's pretty much what I have right now," said Saldivar. "I have a lot of hope."

As he sits in the hospital recovering, those dreams seem far away. His family is there for support.

"He's a strong kid -- one of the strongest I've ever met," brother Hector Saldivar said.

Saldivar promises to overcome.

"It's a setback but hopefully it will be more of a motivation than a setback," said Saldivar. "I'm just trying to stay positive. Hopefully I'll heal quick and I'll be out on the field just playing, playing ball like I used to."

Saldivar's family does not have health insurance and he's one of four boys. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with medical expenses.