‘It takes a village’: Parents of Penn Township boy injured in lawn mower accident reflect on trauma, recovery 2 years later

Two years ago, 6-year-old Liam Lavelle took a ride with his dad on the lawn mower — something he had done many times before.

The mower’s blades were not engaged, and the bagging system was turned off as Liam’s dad, Zach Lavelle, drove the vehicle to the edge of his Penn Township yard.

But when Liam, who was diagnosed with nonverbal autism, tried to jump off the mower while it was still moving, he inadvertently moved the button to engage the blades. They sliced through his feet.

For Liam’s mom, Jenna Garbowsky, the rest of the day was surreal.

“That day, it’s a blur,” she said. “I remember everything, but I don’t.”

She remembers receiving a phone call from her oldest son, Levi Lavelle, now 10.

“Something happened with Liam and the lawn mower,” Levi told his mom.

Garbowsky, who is separated from Zach, was at her boyfriend’s house when Levi called. She remembers hopping in her car and rushing to to the scene a few houses down the street.

She remembers the helicopter ride to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and room 604 on the trauma floor, where Liam stayed for more than two months.

“It was just a freak accident that probably couldn’t happen in a million years,” Zach said.

Nearly two years and more than 20 surgeries later, Liam is walking and running again. Doctors were able to reconstruct his ankles and recover part of his feet.

“There’s of course been bumps in the road, lots of them since then — issues with pain, things like that,” Garbowsky said. “But honestly from where we were that day in July versus the rest of the process … I remember saying to myself ‘My baby’s never going to walk again.’

“Look where he is now. He’s thriving,” she said, watching her son dash across the playground at Penn Township’s Municipal Park. “He’s still a kid. He’s still happy. That’s what counts to me. His perseverance, it’s just amazing.”

The accident

Zach’s medical training gained in 17 years of emergency response experience as a volunteer firefighter kicked in right away after the accident on July 31, 2022.

The emergency call brought a fire truck to the scene in 3 minutes and an ambulance in 5½ minutes. A medevac helicopter landed in 20 minutes.

“That night, the response times from everyone involved was something that doesn’t happen every day,” Zach said. “We’re just thankful and lucky that the cards fell into play that night and the outcome was what it is. It could have been a lot different very quickly.”

Liam always enjoys playing outdoors, Zach said.

“He loves to be outside, loves to run around the yard, ride his scooter,” he said. “When the accident happened, that was one of the things in the back of my mind: ‘Oh my gosh, he’s never going to be able to walk again. He’s never going to be able to ride his scooter. He’s never going to be able to swim.”

Shoe fillers keep Liam’s feet positioned properly in his footwear, allowing him to run and play.

For longer periods of walking, Liam has a custom-designed wheelchair. Neighbors recognize Liam by the red wagon Garbowsky uses to bring her son along for strolls at Municipal Park’s walking trail, she said.

Accidents not uncommon

Liam stayed in the pediatric intensive care unit for a week before moving to room 604. He would not leave the hospital until Oct. 14.

“There was a lot going on,” Garbowsky said. “His body, his functions were going all over the place. He was stable, but it was a lot at first. His body was going through shock.”

Early on in the recovery process, Liam was in the operating room three times a week to have his wounds washed clean of debris, she said.

Doctors were able to spare portions of Liam’s feet — about 60% of the right foot and 30% of the left, according to Liam’s plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Bykowski. Skin grafts cover his wounds.

Lawn mower accidents are not uncommon.

About 10,000 children every year are injured by lawn mowers — making these accidents the leading cause of major limb loss among those younger than 10, according to a study published in April by the University of Iowa’s Injury Prevention Research Center.

The study indicates nearly 25% of lawn mower injuries result from a passenger falling off of it. Nearly 70% happen to bystanders hit by a lawn mower.

Children’s Hospital sees about five lawn mower injuries per summer among children 3 to 6 years old, Bykowski said.

“Those kids, they tend to be curious,” he said. “They tend to not have those normal ‘stop’ signals as older kids have. Generally what happens is it’s that age group and it tends to be their feet.”

The second most common age group Bykowski treats for lawn mower injuries are 14 to 16 year old. These injuries tend to be less severe, Bykowski said, often involving the loss of a finger.

“Unfortunately, accidents happen to a lot of great families,” Bykowski said. “It’s not that they’re not paying attention to their kids — it’s just that accidents happen.”

Extensive recovery

Lawn mower accident patients such as Liam typically require 25 to 30 surgeries, Bykowski said. Wound infections are virtually unavoidable.

“Aside from the initial injury, there’s always a bunch of dirt and grass, so a lot of bacteria, a lot of fungus,” Bykowski said. “It’s expected that each kid is going to get an infection, regardless of how frequently we take them to the operating room to clean things up, to get rid of the unhealthy, infected tissue.”

It may take one to three months just to clear an infection and prepare a patient for surgery, he said.

But Bykowski’s treatment plan starts with something far simpler — an acknowledgement of the family and patient’s grief.

“You can see that in their faces, and honestly that is really helpful for them to hear, for somebody to acknowledge that,” he said, “and you can kind of tell them we will make things better.”

Given the lengthy recovery process, Bykowski gets to know his lawn mower accident patients well.

“I see them for weeks and months, every other day in the hospital,” he said. “And then, afterward, I follow them long-term. So until they’re adults, I’ll continue to follow Liam and other patients like him.”

Bykowski has a network of families willing to support new lawn mower accident patients. He also directs patients and their families to Facebook support groups.

Iowa nonprofit Tate’s Army, for example, provides financial assistance to families impacted by lawn mower and machinery accidents.

Community support

Liam and his family were not left to handle the recovery process on their own.

The community donated more than $127,000 to an online fundraiser started by Garbowsky’s sister, Ashley Dimperio.

The fundraiser’s initial goal was $10,000; that was surpassed within six hours.

The funds were put into a special needs trust to support medical costs surrounding Liam’s disability.

“He’s going to need more things as he gets older,” Zach said. “It’s just a big relief to know that we have that there to get him whatever he needs.”

Neighbors also started a meal train for the family after the accident.

“I think we went two months of meals being dropped off here,” Zach said.

Zach’s fiance, Kaitlyn, and their 4-year-old son, Zayden, have been a constant support system for Liam, Garbowsky said.

“It takes a village. Our family support and the community support, it’s just been — throughout the whole process — such a big help to us,” she said. “We’re just grateful. You’ve got to have a lot of people in your corner.”

The road ahead

Liam’s surgery days are not over.

It is hard to predict what his needs will be in the future, Bykowski said.

“Even though he’s running and jumping and being a pretty normal kid, he’s probably compensating a little bit in terms of how he’s taking each step,” he said. “And so, over time, our bodies aren’t necessarily built for that. So maybe down the road, if he’s compensating a little bit more with his one side, maybe his hip will become a little sore, and then I’ll have to kind of recompensate.”

Next month, Liam will have an amputation revision surgery to address the growth of one of his foot bones.

He is likely to need this surgery every year or two until he is done growing, Bykowski said.

Bykowski, who has treated Liam since the day of the accident, said the bone growth resembles a rhinoceros horn.

“I always say to the (doctoral) residents I teach or the parents or the patients that kids are like little salamanders and that they heal everything,” he said. “They heal everything, and sometimes they heal too good.”

The surgery to remove the excess bone should be a relatively minor surgery with a less intense recovery period than Liam’s previous surgeries, Bykowski said.

But it will still mean a few weeks off his feet, Garbowsky said.

“It is a struggle — the healing process — with him, just because he’s not able to really understand that he cannot get up. It’s a lot of supervision. … They sometimes do hospitalize him a little bit longer, just due to his nature,” she said, referring to Liam’s autism diagnosis.

Liam was diagnosed with autism at 2 years old. His parents noticed him flapping his hands, walking on his toes and lining up his toys throughout the house.

“I used to have a hard time taking him in public, just due to the nature of he would run away or safety issues, that was a big thing,” Garbowsky said.

Liam started kindergarten at Penn-Trafford’s McCullough Elementary School, but it was not long before he was placed in New Story Schools, a K-12 school in Monroeville for children with autism.

Since the accident, Garbowsky has noticed a change in Liam’s behavior. He no longer runs away from family in public settings, and he seems to be more comfortable going to doctor’s appointments.

“We used to struggle just taking him to the doctor. It was a hard process. He did not like it,” she said. “But now, we go, he puts his arm out, lets them take his blood pressure. Even if he has to get blood taken, he puts his hand out and he’s comfortable with it.”

Inspired by the quick intervention of emergency personnel that July day two years ago, Zach plans to start EMT training in the fall.

“I kind of always thought about doing it,” he said, “but I would say that night kind of really pushed me a little more.”

For Garbowsky, one thing is certain — she will always look up to her son.

“Even though Liam’s only 8, you can learn so much from him,” she said. “The perseverance that he shows is incredible.”