WASHINGTON — The little Caps fan who ended up in a coma after a sledding accident in his McLean neighborhood appears to be on the mends.
His name has not been officially released, but “Bensten,” as he was identified by his uncle on Twitter, is awake, smiling and saying words, recognizing family and most heartwarmingly, thanking everyone who prayed so hard for him.
Especially his beloved Washington Capitals hockey team.
Members of the franchise — including owner Ted Leonsis — called for prayers and well wishes over the last few weeks since the 6-year-old’s Jan. 28 accident. Bensten is one of the team’s biggest fans, and they wanted to give him back some of that fan power. The blog Russian Machine Never Breaks has been following his recovery, and on Thursday posted a video of the boy watching a personal message from the team.
“Watch Bensten perk up when he sees Wes Johnson. Watch the 6-year-old squirm in happiness when Bruce Anderson, the Verizon Center organist, plays him a song. Watch him starstruck when Mike Green appear onscreen,” writes Ian Oland, who writes for the blog. “At the end, Bensten says, softly, ‘Thanks, Caps.’”
“I admit: when I saw this, I sobbed. Bensten feels like family now, just as I’m sure he feels like family to all of you.”
Bensten was struck by a passing car driven by a 65-year-old McLean woman as he was sledding down a driveway on his street. His family had initially reached out to the Caps in hopes of generating prayers and well-wishes, and spreading the word with the hashtag #Pray4Bman on Twitter. Their updates have also been featured on the blog:
Bensten started the day off by shocking us all when he used words. Among the first was when the speech pathologist came in and asked him which parent he wanted to help him and his response was “both.” It sounded too good to be true, but over the course of several hours, he said names, “thank you” and was smiling and laughing. It was the most amazing morning ever.
The trip to NRH wore him out, so he has been somewhat tranquil – aside from when he pulled out his feeding tube. Just making sure we keep the new nurses on their toes!
By mid next week they will tell us how long they think he will need to be in rehab. Lance (Bensten’s father) is staying the night with him- and we hope to get the family involved in his rehab in the very near future.
Thrilled to see you doing so well Bensten. See you when we get back from #CapsCali! #pray4bman http://t.co/QxJZzypT6E pic.twitter.com/yUnyxdWl4x
— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) February 13, 2015
