Three weeks after accident, 17-year-old Pell 'doing very well'

Thursday, May 3, 2012
Logan Pell

A Greencastle teenager adept at balancing a job, raising livestock and playing sports is doing his best not to let serious injuries hold him back from any of his pursuits.

Seventeen-year-old Logan Pell sustained serious injuries to his left arm and leg in an April 16 auto accident. He was pinned in his 2005 Dodge Ram after striking a tree.

Pell was airlifted to Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, where he underwent three surgeries in four days.

After 12 days in the hospital, Pell returned home last week.

"We're very pleased with the way he's doing," Pell's mother Jennifer Eller told the Banner Graphic. "He's glad to be home."

Of course, being home doesn't mean Pell is anywhere near out of the woods.

His left leg is doing well enough that he's walking with a cane -- much sooner than doctors had predicted.

He is slated to begin physical therapy on the leg today.

A nerve was severed in Pell's right arm, so rehab will have to wait for the nerve to regrow.

None of this is stopping him from making plans to return to the 4-H Horse & Pony program, South Putnam basketball or his job.

"He is doing very well. He's very active," Eller said. "He has animals in the summer so he wants to be back in time for the fair. He wants to play basketball for his senior year. He wants to get back to working for his uncle."

And like the horseman that he is, Pell was ready to get back on the horse (in this case a truck) right after surgery.

"Right after the surgeries, we brought him up an Auto and RV and he was quick to start looking for a new truck," Eller said.

The South Putnam junior also plans to resume his school year by attending for 2-3 hours on Monday.

Anyone wishing to support Pell and his family will have the opportunity to do so at 5 p.m. Sunday, May 6 in the South Putnam cafeteria. The school's FFA chapter will host a spaghetti dinner that will also include salad, garlic bread and assorted desserts.

Cost is a free-will offering, and all contributions will be given to Pell and his family for medical expenses.

Those attending the dinner should enter through Door No. 8 at the back of the school.

Eller said the family has already been amazed by the support it has seen.

"We were totally overwhelmed with all the love and support and prayers," she said. "We were flabbergasted by all the people at the hospital when we got there that night."

As a thank you to those who helped, they have recently been taking cookies to the Putnam County Sheriff's Department, Operation Life, Jerry's Wrecker Service and the Madison Township and Greencastle fire departments.

"We were very impressed by everything they did at the wreck," Eller said. "They were all wonderful."

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