GA girl badly injured in ATV crash shares her recovery story
A Morgan County family is sharing a little girl's survival story in an effort to bring awareness to ATV safety.
Memorial Day 2023, Mattelyn Atkinson was riding on an ATV known as a Gator with her big sister and two friends when it flipped.
Her sister managed to get to her cell phone and call for help.
'She said, 'Momma, the Gator is turned over, and it's on top of us,' Tori Atkinson told Channel 2's Courtney Francisco.
A cousin nearby lifted the ATV off as the mom ran to help. Her youngest, Mattelyn, was hurt the worst.
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'She looked up and was like, 'Mommy, I'm scared,'' Tori Atkinson said. 'Her entire inside of her ankle was completely gone, yes. It broke all her ribs, her collarbone. She had two leg fractures. It detached her bottom lip from her teeth.'
Paramedics flew the little girl from the family farm in Morgan County to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
'We were immediately so thankful for how quickly the trauma team at Children's cared for Mattelyn,' Tori said. 'It felt like we were surrounded by angels.'
Her little girl was 10 years old at the time. Doctors had to put her on a ventilator, perform four surgeries, and she had to learn to walk again.
After 28 days in the hospital, doctors at CHOA and Scottish Rite allowed her to come home, continue rehab, and working to walk on her own.
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'I felt so much responsibility. I just wanted, we wanted them to have a good time, and, the way we grew up, that's what we did, you know?' Tori Atkinson said.
Two years later, her daughter is 12 now. Her strength is back. She's a sideline cheerleader.
'I still ride them a little bit, but I ride them with my parents,' Mattelyn Atkinson said.
She wanted to share her painful journey to recovery in an effort to save lives.
'It changed my life a lot about doing stuff alone and thinking about stuff before you do it to make sure it's safe or not,' said Mattelyn Atkinson.
According to Consumer Federation of America, more than 600 people died on ATVs in 2024. 119 of them were under 16, including an infant and six toddlers.
This year, Morgan County grieved the loss of two 12-year-old boys who died while riding an ATV.
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