Peninsula boy in stable condition

After colliding with a dump truck, boy moved out of ICU

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

A 10-year-old Vaughn Elementary School student is recovering at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following an accident that occurred late in the afternoon on April 15.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Det. Ed Troyer said Shaun Matthew Perez collided with a dump truck that was pulling a trailer while riding his bike. The boy apparently thought he’d cleared the back of the truck without knowing it was pulling the trailer, and he hit the tow bar, Troyer said.

Perez was airlifted to Harborview, where he was in critical condition. His father, Michael Perez, said Monday that he had been upgraded to stable condition and, on Sunday, he was moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the eighth floor.

“He’s doing well, but he’s a little scratched up,” Perez said in a calm, tired voice from his cell phone at the hospital. “He went through two surgeries. He had internal bleeding and broke his pelvic bone. He had a major concussion and a laceration on his left hand so bad they had to re-attach his hand.”

The father said he has been at the hospital since the incident, but now he’s doing fine.

“I was a little shook up when he was going through surgery,” Perez said.

Shaun Matthew Perez is in his fourth year of remission from Leukemia and underwent two bone marrow transplants last year.

“This kid’s been fighting for his life twice before, and now this is the third time,” Perez said.

Perez said last week’s accident happened about three or four houses away from his own residence, but he doesn’t know exactly how.

“I’m still dumbfounded,” he said. “It was a freak accident. He cleared the dump truck, but it had a trailer that hauls soil. I suspect he went under the trailer.

“All I’m doing right now is just concentrating on getting him out of the woods.”

The boy’s mother was in Guam visiting her terminally ill father when the accident occurred, but she flew back to the area.

Perez thanked the community for its support, especially his son’s teacher and counselor, both of whom have visited him in the hospital.

“The sheriffs, the fire department, the people here at Harborview — everyone has been great,” Perez said. “The community has been great. There have been a lot of visitors coming out to the house. They’ve been sending cards and giving us gas cards. This really helps lessen the burden of the situation.”

Perez said his son is off life support systems and is talking. He knows about the cards people are sending and appreciates them.

Right now, his prognosis looks good, Perez said.

“He will be able to walk and do normal things,” he said. “We can’t tell at this early stage what might happen down the line. I just hope nothing happens down the line.”

Reach reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.