Playing baseball a motivator for boy seriously hurt in ski accident

BROOKFIELD -- Some doctors said 13-year-old Kerwin Hackett from Brookfield would never walk and talk again after a ski accident last December. Now, the boy is determine to play his favorite sport - baseball, once again.

It was a trip to Hackett's mother's native country of Korea that changed Kerwin Hackett's life. Kerwin says he doesn't remember how a ski accident left him unconscious for over a month.

Doctors said he'd never walk or talk again, after they discovered a severe diffuse axonal brain injury, along with a hemorrhage on Kerwin's brain stem.

Kerwin woke up on February 1st, and days later, was learning how to walk and talk with the help of physical therapy. Playing baseball again was a motivator for Kerwin. "I asked my parents, 'hey guys, can I play the game?' And they're like, 'uh, no. You can't really see the ball right,'" Kerwin said.

Kerwin says he was seeing double. Doctors performed eye surgery in Korea, and he's due for one more round of surgery to repair the orbital fractures he suffered in the ski accident. "There's great hope that he could make a full recovery or close to it," Nathan Hackett, Kerwin's father said.

While Kerwin continues to recover, he will take the pitcher's mound Thursday, May 17th and throw out the first pitch at his friends' Little League game in Brookfield. "Just so excited. I'm just hoping to get a good hit!" Kerwin said.

Kerwin Hackett will throw out the first pitch at 5:30 at Brookfield's Mitchell Park.

On Saturday, May 19th, the Elm Grove/Brookfield community is holding a benefit for Hackett, where all proceeds will go to help the boy's recovery.

The Kerwin Hackett Benefit that several family friends have planned will start with a car wash at 10 a.m. and end with an evening dance and silent auction at Pilgrim Park Middle School.

Over 30 gift cards will be raffled, and over 70 items will be available in a silent auction, including a week timeshare anywhere in the world, Packers tickets and a two-night stay for 12 at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

The schedule of events Saturday is as follows:

    Anyone who would like to help with the event can contact Sara at sdavies@istreamfs.com.

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