A former member of a Tennessee youth football program that lost a player in a pre-dawn bus crash in Arkansas says the program can keep children from being lured into a world of drugs and crime.
One child from the Orange Mound Youth Association in Memphis was killed Monday when a charter bus veered off Interstate 30 near Benton, Arkansas, and tumbled down an embankment. At least 45 other people were hurt in the crash.
Resident Carlos Morgan says youth football is important in low-income neighborhoods such as Orange Mound because it "helps keep kids out of trouble," and "shows the kids what the world actually is like."
The 30-year-old Morgan says he was once a player on a youth traveling squad. He says the program "gives kids opportunity and brings the community together."
Officials at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock said Monday afternoon that 22 of 26 children admitted to the hospital after the accident have been discharged to their families. the four remaining children are all in stable condition and are expected to fully recover from their injuries.
The children admitted to the children's hospital are all between the ages of 9 and 13.
Surgeon in Chief and Trauma Medical Director Dr. Todd Maxson says some suffered brain and skull injuries, while others had broken bones and lacerations. Maxson says two children underwent emergency operations and are in stable condition.
