MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Some physical wounds might be starting to heal, but it will be a long emotional road for the young Memphis area football players on the bus that crashed on Monday outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.
One of Dinesa Wilcox’s biggest hurdles is keeping her son Kiyon Wilcox’s pain to a minimum.
“He’s having a lot of difficulties with his back. I think that’s the main thing that’s giving him a problem,” she said.
She took pictures right before the 11-year-old Covington student left for the big games in Dallas with the Orange Mound Youth Association. He was beaming with excitement to play with the area All-Stars.
Since the early morning charter bus crash he’s now wearing a back brace.
“He has a broken thumb, his foot was busted open, he has a cut above his eye, cuts and bruises all over,” the mother said.
But it’s more than physical pain.
Wilcox is sending her son to counseling and says he’s not ready to go back to school.
“We’re trying to keep him emotionally stable so that’s the biggest thing right now. Because he’s definitely scared and confused and it’s a work in progress.”
Since the news of the horrifying crash WREG was alerted there had been other problems with the bus company, Scott Shuttle Service, on the way to Texas.
“That wasn’t the first issue with the bus,” Wilcox said.
Sources tell us one of the buses broke down on the way, forcing some of the young players to be behind schedule for the big game.
“I found out that they did not get there until Saturday morning,” Wilcox said.
While her son recovers, her heart is now with the family of 9-year-old Kameron Johnson, who didn’t make it.
“When I found out there was a child that passed away, my heart just sunk.”
She’s thankful for the community for putting their arms around the team. “We have some great support coming in from everywhere.”
There have been youth teams from all over offering their condolences.
We asked Arkansas State Policy on Tuesday if there are any updates as to how the driver lost control of the bus. But they said the case is still under investigation.
Scott Shuttle Services was also in a crash in 2017. No one was hurt in that case.