Horseplay leads to brain surgery for local student

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

A Ronan freshman has been suspended for the remainder of the school year after a friend was seriously injured while the two were horseplaying last week at the high school, but the victim's family says the punishment is too harsh.

Jeffrey Blixt-Leo was Lifeflighted to Missoula Community Medical Center and underwent surgery on his brain last Wednesday, Jan. 10, after being hit in the head with a broom handle in what Sheriff's investigators describe as an accident. He returned home earlier this week and is recovering well, although his family has concerns about long-term health problems.

Blixt-Leo, 14, and his close friend Logan Garcia, also 14, were goofing off in the high school's greenhouse at the end of the school day when Blixt-Leo apparently sprayed Garcia playfully with a garden hose. Details of what happened next vary slightly, but Garcia apparently grabbed a broom to knock the hose out of Blixt-Leo's hands.

According to Blixt-Leo's mother, Dureen Blixt, her son stumbled over the hose at his feet, right about the time Garcia was swinging the broom handle, which struck him on the top of the head — an accident both families say.

“Jeffrey's injuries are on the top of his head. The force of it had to be Jeffrey's weight coming down when he fell. How the surgeon explained it is that Logan made impact right as Jeffrey was falling, based on the injuries,” Dureen Blixt said.

It is the Leader's policy to not identify underage students involved in possible criminal incidents, but no charges have been filed, and parents of both boys gave permission for their sons' names to be used.

Blixt said her son doesn't remember being hit with the broom, or even seeing Garcia pick up a broom. Garcia's father, Tracy, said Garcia had water in his eyes and doesn't know exactly how Blixt-Leo was injured, but was simply swinging the broom to knock the hose out of his hand in what turned out to be a tragic accident.

“Basically, they were horsing around, as 14-year-old boys will, and Logan got sprayed with water. He went to swing the broom to knock the hose out of Jeffrey's hands, but he had water in his face and didn't see exactly what happened,” Tracy Garcia said.

However, the Ronan school board voted 3-2 to suspend Garcia for the remainder of the year at a special meeting Monday night, although no criminal charges are expected to be filed in the incident.

Sheriff's detective Kim Leibenguth investigated the incident, and based on the circumstances and the fact that Blixt-Leo's family doesn't think charges are warranted, the Sheriff's office is recommending to the county attorney's office that no charges be filed, Undersheriff Jay Doyle said.

Although the county attorney's office can decide to press charges anyway - as they can do when a victim of domestic violence declines to press charges, for example - it appears unlikely in this scenario Doyle said.

“We will update the county attorney's office on the situation, and it's still their decision as to whether to press charges, but this looks like an accident,” he said.

Tracy Garcia said he was surprised at the result of Monday night's meeting, saying Logan should have been punished for horsing around, but not suspended for the rest of the year.

“At first they were talking about 10 days, but then they came back with the rest of the year,” he said.

Monday night's meeting was originally closed to the public, as is standard policy to protect students' identities, but both families agreed to have the meeting open to the public, Tracy Garcia said.

The Garcias are looking into getting Logan enrolled in the Polson School District, his father said, although that would be subject to approval by the Polson school board. The school board votes on accepting or denying out-of-district students at every monthly meeting.

Both students are honor roll students with no history of disciplinary action against them, their parents said.

Garcia said they are also looking into legal action against the Ronan School District.

“We're not done with this yet,” he said.

Dureen Blixt also expressed frustration with how the district handled the emergency, saying she received a phone call telling her that Jeffrey “had a bump on his head and that they were taking him to the hospital.

“They didn't even call 911,” Blixt said.

Blixt said she later received a phone call from her daughter telling her that Jeffrey had been struck with a broom handle. Later that evening, Jeffrey was transferred to Missoula, where three tablespoons of brain matter were removed, Blixt said.

Blixt-Leo has been recovering this week, but doctors have concerns that the area of the brain that was removed could affect his temperament, Blixt said.

“We might see [the effects] later. It could affect his manners. Jeffrey is polite, but the doctors said he could become belligerent,” Blixt said.

But that was a better prognosis than what the family had originally been told. Blixt said doctors had told her she might have to teach her son to walk again, and that he might be like an infant following surgery.

“As soon as he woke up [following the surgery] he said, 'Mom, I'm hungry. Can you go get me a pizza?' so I was happy to hear that. We weren't expecting that,” she said.

She said Jeffrey and Logan had been close friends for years, and that she was worried about the long-term affects of the punishment and trauma on Logan, too.

“I'm really concerned about his friend Logan. It was an accident. They weren't fighting. Logan is a good kid, respectful. This could really hurt him for years to come,” Blixt said.

She said her son should also receive some punishment, since he was goofing around, too.

“If they are doing all this to Logan, they should do something to Jeffrey, too, because they were both messing around with the water hoses. But I think Logan has already suffered enough,” Blixt said. “He accidentally hurt his friend. That's enough for him to have to go through.”