Wasilla boy critically injured in four-wheeler rollover

SOLDOTNA — A 15-year-old Wasilla boy is in critical condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center following an early-morning four-wheeler crash during a family camping trip.

Part of the cast of “Moose: The Movie” and a regular on the stage at Valley Performing Arts, Sam Allred and his brother Tom, 11, were about a mile and a half from their family’s campsite around midnight, July 3 when the vehicle rolled, his mother Angie Allred said.

She said she didn’t know the boys had borrowed the all-terrain vehicle until a truck rolled up about an hour later, carrying a badly shaken Tom.

The group of four or five witnesses said they saw the boys driving the ATV along the beach at a high rate of speed when it hit a rock and rolled several times. Tom was thrown from the vehicle on the first roll, but Sam — who was driving — hung on through several revolutions, they said.

When they heard screaming, and drove over to help, they found Tom first, Allred said. Sam needed more help so part of the group drove Tom back to their campsite near Kasilof Beach while part of them stayed with Sam on the beach, Allred said.

“If they wouldn’t have been there, Sam would have died,” she said.

Someone called 911 while a contingent of the Allred’s large family of children and grandchildren hurried back to the scene to help Sam and wait for the air ambulance to arrive, she said.

A ground ambulance transported Tom to the hospital, where he checked out OK, his mother said.

But Sam is medically fragile and his injuries are life-threatening. An air ambulance transported him to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna early Friday morning where he was evaluated and stabilized before being flown to Anchorage for care at the pediatric intensive care unit at Providence.

Accompanying Sam in the Life Flight helicopter was surreal, Allred said.

“This cannot be happening,” she thought. “This has got to be a nightmare. Not Sam. Not this. Not now.”

Serious injuries

When he was 3, Sam was diagnosed with IgM nephropathy, a rare kidney disease that causes his immune system to attack his kidneys. It took lots of tests and a kidney biopsy to find the problem, but doctors don’t know what caused it or how to fix it, Allred said.

To keep his body from attacking itself, Sam takes the steroid Prednisone, but the drug’s side effects stunt his growth, make his body swell and weaken his immune system, bones and muscles, which may have contributed to the severity of his injuries, Allred said.

The operating surgeon in Anchorage told his parents the injuries are serious, including a skull fracture, damage to his intestines, diaphragm, spleen, multiple breaks to his pelvic bones, broken ribs, two broken discs in his spine. He also had some bleeding on the right side of his lungs, she said.

“His bowels were actually up where his lungs should have been on the left side,” Allred said.

She said his pelvic bones are badly broken and doctors are using an external stabilizer to try and stop the bleeding.

“Sam is not out of the woods, (and will not be for a long time yet),” she wrote on her Facebook page Friday.

The orthopedic surgeon said he’s not going to tell them how this is going to turn out. You are just going to have to take it hour by hour, he told the family following surgery.

Allred said she was camping on the Kenai Peninsula with her husband Scott, and their children and grandchildren for the Fourth of July when the accident occurred. The trip also was a pre-party for Sam’s 16th birthday, July 8. He is No. 7 the Allred’s 11 children. Tom is No. 10.

Sam’s had his learner’s permit for two years and his family finally found a way to get a car modified so he can drive, Allred said. He’ll be 16 on Wednesday, but is just 48-inches tall. In part, due to the effects of Prednisone, she said.

Sam’s life accomplishments are unique among his peers. He’s started his own non-profit foundation, called Kindness for Kids, he’s been a guest on national TV shows including The Doctors, Inside Edition, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Tyra Banks. And he became an accidental YouTube star after his sister Hannah posted a “Chubby Cuppy Cake Sam” video of him lip-syncing to her account in October 2008. Since then, the video has been viewed more than 83 million times.

“Sam has had an extraordinary life with difficulties, but also an extraordinary life rich with blessings,” his mom said.

She said if anything, Sam’s challenges have made him kinder and more caring. He’s always the first to apologize, she said.

His character came shining through at the Soldotna hospital, too, Allred said.

“He’s hurting pretty bad and he’s thanking the doctors for helping him,” she said.

For now, Sam is resting with the help of pain medication, his mom said.

“It is terrible, seeing your kid like this,” she said. “Nobody is ever ready for anything like this.”

It’s too soon to know much about what their needs might be, Allred said. A donation account to accept contributions toward Sam’s medical bills is online at gofundme.com/prayforsam.

And the family says prayers are appreciated.

“I am just grateful that those people saw him and helped,” Allred said of the group of young people on Kasilof Beach who saw the boys crash and rushed to help.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.