Wendy and I went to Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church to join 50 others supporting Franklin Regional students upon their return to classes.
Video from WPXI – Supporting Franklin Regional Students
The Franklin Regional School District serves the communities of Export, Murrysville and portions of Delmont. It is located approximately twenty miles East of Pittsburgh. With over 3,600 students and nearly 400 staff members, the district operates three Elementary schools (Heritage, Newlonsburg, and Sloan), a Middle School, and a Senior High School.
(Screenshot from msn.com)
Update: Year Anniversary
A year ago Thursday, Greg Keener went into surgery with less than a 30 percent chance of survival.
In the hallway of Franklin Regional High School earlier that day, the 15-year-old was stabbed, his liver pierced by an 8-inch kitchen knife. His only chance for survival, said Jehangir Badar, a surgeon on the Forbes Hospital trauma team, was for doctors to operate immediately, find the injury and stop the bleeding. “A few more minutes later and he would have died,” Dr. Badar said.
In all, the teen spent 39 days in the hospital — 30 in the intensive-care unit — received more than 40 units of blood, underwent three major surgeries and ultimately lost part of the organ. A year later, he’s back in school and playing sports again. Doctors predict no decrease in his life expectancy and no complications from the wound, only a scar on his stomach.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” said his father, Rick, his voice breaking as he recalled his son’s ordeal. “And we are very lucky to have him alive.”
Mr. Keener said his son, now 16, understands and is able to discuss the magnitude of what happened April 9, 2014, when police said Alex Hribal stabbed or slashed him, 19 other students and a security guard in a high school hallway.
