“I dropped off Avyee and asked my dad if I could go one more ride,” Wyatt recalls.

Jimmy agreed. Wyatt drove to a new subdivision, where many of the homes were still being built or were vacant. The road was unpaved. Wyatt hit loose gravel while making a sharp turn, causing his golf cart to tip over. The cart landed on his foot, causing severe injuries.

“I was yelling for help,” said Wyatt.

The accident happened in front of a home where a family had just moved in that day. The mother there picked up Wyatt and rushed him to his home. As the unfamiliar car pulled up with Wyatt, Avyee rushed inside to tell April.

“I got outside and just saw this stranger holding Wyatt like a baby, and Jimmy wrapping his feet in a swim towel,” April said.

Jimmy sprang into action, grabbing his car keys and rushing him to the local emergency room, where Wyatt was stabilized and transferred to Cook Children’s Medical Center-Fort Worth.

The 11-year-old’s innocent evening stroll ended with scattered road rash along his side, three broken bones, and two ripped tendons.

April shares that it was not until the next day, when they met with the plastic surgeon, that they realized the severity and trauma their family had endured.

“I realized this is our new reality right now,” April said. “We’d have full days of surgeries, with doctors and nurses constantly in and out.”

During the first few days, the Hatchers were overwhelmed with friends and family pouring in to tend to their two youngest children at home. Their youngest was just 8 months old and breastfeeding. It was then that she realized the trauma affected her whole family.

She recalls one moment in the hospital where she was caring for Wyatt and his baby brother, Bodynn. April explained to Wyatt that while the trauma happened to him, it affected everyone.

She told him, "You must be patient versus expectant. We are all learning new things."

“It was a hard lesson for him, and just a beautiful opportunity to remind him that he was the one in the hospital bed, but it was changing all of our lives,” April said.

In the two years since the accident, Wyatt has undergone 11 surgeries and one tendon release. Wyatt's last tendon release surgery with a podiatrist will be when he is 18.

He says it was the words of an anesthesiologist that helped him face those surgeries head-on.

“He said, ‘When you face a challenge, you have to meet it, greet it, and then defeat it,’” Wyatt recalls.

Camp RISE

The family came to know their Cook Children’s child life specialist well. She suggested they attend Cook Children’s Trauma Support Group. Through the group, they learned about Camp RISE, a camp focused on families who have experienced a traumatic event. The camp helps families build coping skills, process trauma, and meet other families, all while taking part in fun activities like zip lining.

“It was an escape from the city life,” April said. “Being out where the stars are so numerous and it's just an oasis, and it’s just such an excitement.”

As the Hatchers arrived for their first day of camp, they were greeted with cheers and welcomed to their private cabin. Avyee, Bodynn, Wyatt, Jimmy, and April were excited for the experience.

Wyatt admits his favorite part of camp was archery, but during his second year, he felt compelled to encourage other children through their trauma. He credits Matthew 17:20-21 for finding that courage.

“If you have faith, faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell a mountain to move and jump,” Wyatt recites.

To Wyatt, it was about giving hope to someone else.

“This is never going to be normal, but it will become a new normal, and it's going to be okay eventually,” said Wyatt.

After two years at Camp RISE, the Hatcher family graduated in 2024. April said it was a bittersweet moment. The family received a book signed by all the Trauma Support Group staff.

“The ripples were extensive, in what they had us do,” April said. “It’s just a scaffold to bring such healing.”

Just two weeks after the accident, wound vac and all, Wyatt used the anesthesiologist’s wise words to conquer any fears or hesitation he had about getting back in the golf cart. His dad placed him in the seat and gently drove him around the front yard, eventually taking him on the road.

Two years later, at 13, he shows his scar without hesitation. He openly shares and explains the accident with maturity.  

 For Wyatt’s 13^th birthday, he wanted to see starfish and swim with the dolphins. It was being with the dolphins that captivated him. He now has aspirations of becoming a Marineland dolphin trainer.

During that birthday adventure, April says Wyatt found his voice. On his own, while his parents watched, the 13-year-old had to explain to employees and the dolphin trainer why he wears a scuba sock on his injured foot. A scuba sock was something dolphins had never seen before. The trainer told Wyatt he would teach the dolphin what the sock was.

"It was the coolest moment for our kid," April said. "He just walked away with so much more confidence."