Future East Carolina baseball player seriously hurt in boating accident, NC officials say
UPDATE: Parker Byrd’s mom has said her son could return to the baseball field after his boating injury. More details here. The original story is below.
A future college baseball player was seriously hurt in a North Carolina boating accident, officials said.
Parker Byrd, a freshman at East Carolina University in Greenville, was tubing when part of a boat hit him on Saturday, July 23, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission told WITN.
“My thoughts and prayers are with Parker Byrd and his family,” Jon Gilbert, athletic director for ECU, said in a written statement to McClatchy News. “Our focus is on him and the recovery process. Coach (Cliff) Godwin and our baseball staff have been supporting the family during their time of need.”
Facebook user Mitzi Lee Byrd, who 247Sports identified as the player’s mom, said her son was flown from the Beaufort County town of Bath. He arrived in Greenville with injuries to his legs, the “right one being most severe,” she wrote on social media.
“They cleaned both legs and reattached the muscles in his left leg,” she wrote July 24 in a follow-up Facebook post. “They expect that to heal well with time. They were not able to reattach muscles in his right leg at this time and expect to do that possibly Tuesday.”
Byrd was an infielder before graduating from Scotland High School in Laurinburg, roughly 100 miles southwest of Raleigh. He was the No. 20 ranked prospect in the state and committed to ECU, according to Perfect Game.
Last season, the ECU Pirates’ baseball team was among the highest-ranked Division I programs in the nation and finished with a 46-21 record.
Mitzi Lee Byrd didn’t immediately share additional information with McClatchy News on July 25.
This story was originally published July 25, 2022 at 4:01 PM.
