Home Run Derby benefit to be held for Saugus teen

SAUGUS – It’s been more than two months since 14-year-old Saugus resident Jacob Blaney suffered a traumatic brain injury in an all-terrain vehicle accident in Maine.Blaney was away with friends when the accident happened, and had to be taken by helicopter to Maine Medical Center where he spent 34 days in intensive care. Half of those days Blaney lay in a coma, while the others he suffered from seizures, brain swelling and pneumonia. After a slow and agonizing recovery, which included recovering from a tracheotomy and being weaned from a respirator, Blaney’s mother, Kristin Blaney, said her son is finally coming home to Saugus.”He’s doing really well,” said Kristin Blaney. “We’re due to come home on Saturday. They’re very happy with his outcome. We all are.”Jacob Blaney has been recovering at Spaulding Rehabilitation and Pediatrics in Boston since Aug. 8, where his mother said he has had to relearn life skills we all take for granted such as speaking, eating and walking.Kristin Blaney said her son has been progressing “really well” with his rehab and is making a “remarkable recovery.””They projected us to be here until October,” she said. “He’s up and he talks. He has to walk with supervision ? he can do things but needs 24-hour supervision. He’s supposed to be a freshman in high school this year so they want to get him back to where he was. He’s frustrated with the whole going to school thing. He looks good and is doing so well but he still needs some intense therapy still.”Once he returns home, Jacob Blaney will start “aggressive rehabilitation” in Medford.Kristin Blaney, who works at the Porthole Pub, has spent every night in her son’s hospital room since the accident, and said he only “vaguely remembers” what happened that day.”He went away for the weekend with some good friends and he was riding a four-wheeler,” she said. “His helmet was on so they don’t really know what happened. He went over the bars and that was that. He was unconscious at the scene and they realized they had to med flight him to the Maine Medical Center and the ICU. He remembers the day and riding the four-wheeler, but that’s about all. Nothing after that.”To help with his recovery, family members and friends started the Friends of Jacob T. Blaney charity group, which is putting together events around Saugus to help raise money for doctor bills and other medical costs.On Saturday, Sept. 29, there will be a home run derby at World Series Park behind the Belmonte Middle School from 8 a.m. to noon that will feature raffles and prizes. All proceeds will go to the Blaney family.In the two months since the accident, Kristin Blaney said she’s been “hanging in there,” and thanked her friends and family for their support.”We have this group of friends that have really stepped up and done everything from making my family dinner or taking different days to drive up to Maine to hang out with me,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful group of people. We’re just so thankful for everybody.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected] to Help For more information on the Friends of Jacob T. Blaney or to donate, visit the group’s Facebook page or contact Mark Andrews at 781-858-0955, Bob Blaney at 781-706-0648 or [email protected] fund has also been set up to help with medical costs. Donations can be sent to Kristin Blaney/Jacob Blaney Recovery Fund, ATTN: Deborah Alphonse, Saugus Cooperative Bank, 1 Hamilton St., Saugus, MA 01906.