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Austin Hatch's treatment program is "going very well," according to a blog post on the site dedicated to his care. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native is participating in physical, occupational and speech therapies with the help of his family in hopes of making a full recovery from the brain injuries, punctured lung and fractured ribs and collarbone he sustained in the crash.
It's amazing that Hatch is recovering considering this is the second deadly plane crash he will have survived.
In 2003, Hatch's father piloted a plane from Michigan to Indiana that clipped a power pole and went down, killing Hatch's biological mother, Julie, and his 11-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother as well. Then in late June, the Hatch family was flying between its home in Indiana and a summer house near Charlevoix, Mich. when the small, single-engine plane plummeted nose-first into a garage along a residential street north of Charlevoix Municipal Airport.
Hatch had verbally committed to Michigan just days before the crash, opting to follow in the footsteps of his father, a Wolverines alum. Family and friends have not abandoned hope that the 6-foot-6 high school junior will one day be knocking down jump shots in John Beilein's 3-point happy offense, but for right now there's more important matters to worry about than basketball.
For those interested in supporting Hatch, family members of his have launched a website listing the address where readers can send cards and letters or purchase an "Austin is my Brother" wristband in his honor. Proceeds from the sale of the wristbands will go to the Hatch family.