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Community Corner

Community Turns Out to Support Injured Lakeside High Student

A group of family, friends and classmates prayed Wednesday for Thomas Sowell, who was injured Sunday in a snowboarding accident in North Carolina.

Family, friends and classmates of a hospitalized 15-year-old student who suffered severe head trauma from a snowboarding accident last weekend filled for a special prayer service Wednesday night.

Several attendees held back tears in an outpouring of support for Thomas Sowell, who was injured Sunday while snowboarding in western North Carolina. He is currently in critical condition at Grady Hospital in Atlanta.

The service started with prayers and ended with lit candles–many raised high–in a gesture of faith, hope and solidarity. Virginia Sowell, Thomas' mother, attended the service.  

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"We love Thomas and we love his family," said an emotional Robin Merrill, the youth minister at the church. "It's tough when you have one of your kids have such an horrific accident like this, and you don't know what's happening. We believe in God, and we believe in miracles, and we're coming together to support the family."

Merrill was among a group that prayed and told stories at Sowell's bedside at Grady Hospital.

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"Tonight, we not only come together as a faith community, but we're also bringing in other people who need to hurt and pray with us," she said.

Among the many attendees at the service were Sowell's fellow Lakeside High students and members of his Boy Scouts troop, which had organized the snowboarding trip near Asheville, NC, last weekend. Howell was successfully transported from an Asheville hospital to Grady on Monday. 

Merrill described Sowell as a "fantastic kid" who is very involved in church, scouts, sports and school. 

Sowell regularly attends early Sunday services at Oak Grove United Methodist and volunteers with the church's youth group. A prayer of support written by the youth group was distributed at the service.

The family has been communicating through a blog, Pray for Thomas S. It was updated Wednesday: "Talked to Jim (Thomas' father) this morning. (He spent the night). Please also pray for Thomas' lungs. They're doing better, but brain injuries with intubation often produce lung issues. They're keeping him well-sedated today, so we won't have any news of 'toe wiggling' to report. Please don't stop praying."

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