Ava Jones not expected to play basketball again after being hit by car
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - A Nickerson High School basketball star who committed to the University of Iowa is not expected to play again after she and three members of her family were hit by a car earlier this year.
The university's women's basketball coach Lisa Bluder said MRI scans shed more light on the seriousness of Ava Jones' injuries, according to The Gazette. The coach said all four major ligaments in both of Ava's knees are torn and Bluder "doubts she will ever play basketball again."
“I can’t believe she was walking,” Bluder told the university’s Presidential Committee on Athletics. “The doctor said, ‘I’ve never seen a person come in here with four torn ligaments in a knee and not be crying.’”
Despite Ava's current situation, the women's basketball program has committed to honoring Ava's scholarship regardless of her ability to play.
“She’s still somebody that we are going to have as a part of our program because we believe in her. She committed to us, and just because she had something bad happen to her doesn’t mean that we turn our back on her. We’ll be there for her and her family as much as we can,” Bluder said.
Tuesday was Ava's first day back at school at Nickerson High since the crash.
On July 5, Ava, her father, mother and little brother were in Louisville, Kentucky, for Ava's AAU basketball tournament when police say a driver under the influence of opioids hit them with his car.
Trey Jones, husband and father, died days later in a Kentucky hospital. Creek Jones, 10, suffered a few minor cuts and scrapes, but was otherwise fine. Amy, Trey’s wife, and Ava suffered more serious injuries. With traumatic brain injuries and several broken bones.
The driver, Michael Hurley, has pleaded not guilty to murder, two counts of first-degree aggravated assault, fourth-degree aggravated assault and operating a vehicle while under the influence.
A GoFundMe set up to help the Jones family has raised more than a $150,000.
