15-Year-Old Boy Left Paralyzed After Suffering Rare Spinal Stroke While Playing Golf

A 15-year-old high school golfer from the Chicago area is fighting to walk again after suffering a rare spinal stroke during a golf lesson.

Wesley Freeman, a student at Wheaton North High School and a member of the school’s golf team, suffered the medical emergency on March 22, according to a GoFundMe page created by his cousin, Natalie Bielski.

The stroke affected his C1-T7 vertebrae and left him paralyzed from the upper chest down.

“There was zero indication that this stroke was going to occur,” the fundraiser states.

Before the sudden emergency, Wesley was a healthy teenage athlete. He played golf, went to school and had no warning that his life was about to change in an instant.

According to ABC7 Chicago, Wesley was at a golf lesson when he began to feel numbness. What first seemed like a strange physical sensation turned out to be a rare spinal stroke.

Doctors still do not know what caused it, despite multiple CT scans and MRIs.

Now, Wesley is recovering at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago, where he is focused on rehabilitation and his goal of walking again.

“I want to be able to walk,” Wesley told ABC7 Chicago. “Walking is kind of important to me.”

His family, friends and community have rallied around him with the slogan “Win Fore Wes,” a tribute to his love of golf and the fight he is now facing.

For his mother, Rosemarie Freeman, the support has been overwhelming.

“It feels like an envelope of love just wrapped around us,” she told the outlet.

His father, Matt Freeman, has also made a promise of his own. He has vowed not to shave until Wesley comes home from the hospital.

“We’re just celebrating every little thing because those things add up,” Matt said.

Despite the shock of what happened, Wesley has continued pushing forward. He even finished his sophomore year of high school from the hospital and plans to return to school for his junior year in the fall.

That determination has inspired the people around him.

Still, Wesley has been honest about how difficult the journey has been.

“I do feel sorry for myself, but I try to hide it, try to stay positive,” he said.

His cousin Natalie thanked the community for its prayers, encouragement and donations, saying the support means “the world to the Freemans.”

Funds raised through the GoFundMe will go toward Wesley’s rehabilitation and ongoing care as he continues his recovery.

For Wesley and his family, life changed without warning during an ordinary golf lesson. But now, with a community behind him and a determination to keep fighting, the teen athlete is focused on one goal above all else: walking again.