Future MBB player hospitalized by plane crash - Updated

Thoughts and prayers go out to him and the rest of his family.  Hoping the young man can make it through this tough time now and in the future.  I haven't looked too deep into the story, but I'm hoping our Mich family has made there way out there for support in a time when any shoulder is a well needed shoulder to lean on.  I too lost my parents at a young age and know what he'll be going through.  I'll be rooting for him, not only for the Michigan connection, but as anyone who has a soul, you're heart goes out to people faced with this type of adversity.  Praying...

I hope we can give him a scholarship even if he isn't able to play basketball.  Or we should start a charity.  Or something.  It sucks not feeling like theres anythingto do to help.

to him that he pulls through. 

From an Indiananewscenter.com piece:

***Update on Austin’s condition from family friend Jay Leonard:

“I got off the phone with a good friend of ours, Dr. Bob VanHorn, and he and his wife Renee were at the hospital today. Bob said that they had induced coma and he's currently resting comfortably. He does have some broken bones. From what Bob told me, he's got some broken ribs and clavicle. He did fracture his leg, but he said that there's nothing that needs to be done as far as casting or pins, that type of thing. Both of his lungs are punctured from what I understand, but they've got that under control. The most important thing right now that they're monitoring is that he has a fractured skull and he has some swelling on the brain.”

Leonard went on to say that VanHorn believes the doctors in Michigan have control over Austin’s situation. He also said that neurological tests will be done over the next few days.

Such tragic news. Wish nothing but the best for the young man and his family..stay strong Austin.

Praying for healing and restoration in Jesus name. Both physically and emotionally both Austin and his family.

Austin will have a long road back, but he will have the Lord's arms, and those of the Michigan Family, wrapped around him. 

I checked the FAA N-number registration site (the Det News website has a picture of the empennage of the aircraft at the accident scene). The aircraft was a Beech A36 "Bonanza". The aircraft type has a reasonably good safety record, although previous variants of the Bonanza (particularly the infamous "V-tail") were much more checkered. The Bonanza requires an experienced pilot to safety operate, (due to a narrow weight and balance envelope) but Austin's dad had apparently been flying for many years.

As a private pilot myself, I will be interested to learn what caused this accident, and what might be learned from it. For me, these accidents and tragedies are always reminders that "there, but for the grace of God, go I."

If anyone from the athletic dept or U-M contacts Austin, would that be considered a recruiting violation?

Prayers go out for this young man.

All positive energy to Austin as well as those close to him. Pulling for him to come through this tragedy.

I'm not even sure what to say to something like this. I hope with all my heart that recovers well, and he gets the support he needs to overcome it.

This poor kid has no immediate family left now. I hope the brain swelling doesn't have any permanent effects and that we still give him a scholarship so he can get his degree at UM even if he can't play basketball.

my thoughts are with him that he can pull through this.

Prayers to the Hatch family and especially Austin for a recovery, basketball completely aside. I can't imagine having to deal with that amount of loss and I truly hope to see the guy in a Michigan uniform still someday or at least at U-M.

Unfortunately, the comments on the ESPN article were far less tasteful towards this situation and it makes me sad that people can't put their appalling thoughts aside during a situation like this.

From the EMS providers, sometimes it gets overlooked. Austin was taken from charlevoix to traverse city which is about 50 miles, im just starting in the firefighter/paramedic field and ive seen patients airlifted before. It takes time to get the patient to the trauma center and in this field 10 minutes can be the difference between life and death. The great thing is that the swelling on the brain is minor and that's the most important thing to worry about right now, if the doctors can continue to keep it down im positive that he will pull thru.

Wishing Austin a speedy recovery from the physical injuries and wishing him all the best in moving forward!  I do hope he is still able to make to Michigan even if it's just for the educations.  Very sad to hear about both sets of losses due to plane crashes.  

Go luck Austin and wish you all the best!  Stay strong!   Will keep you and your family in my prayers!!!

We all have you in our hearts, Austin.

This happened 5 five blocks away from my house. It was a crappy night with wind and rain. The runway to the airport was literally on the other side of the road maybe 100 yds away. Prayers to for Austin.

We need a big giant "Get Well" card or banner that everyone can sign and we can send to this kid. 

....complete article on the accident.

We're pulling for you Austin. 

...picked up the story.

Tweet from Greg Jones of Fort Wayne Journal Gazette:

Plans are to bring Austin Hatch out of coma Monday; teammates Davis Rao and Trent Van Horn are with him at hospital

EDIT: Part of the above tweet seems to be based on a new AP article, which also says:

A spokeswoman for the hospital [in] Traverse City, Mich., says Austin remains in critical condition.

Thoughts and prayers go out to Austin. 

The magnitude of this stuff is hard to fathom.  Can't say enough how much we're all thinking about Austin on campus.  

Anyone know how much contact our coaching staff is allowed to have with Austin at this point in the recruiting process?  Knowing what kind of men they are we all know they're gonna want to be there for him for what ever he needs.

This is truly a very sad story.  He has gone through so much at such a young age.  My heart goes out to him.

...via Twitter if Michigan intended to request permission from the NCAA to visit Austin and he replied in the affirmative. That's very gratifying to know, and not surprising in the least.

New AP article has some more details on Austin Hatch's injuries and treatment, based on information from his father's business partner, Dr. G. David Bojrab:

Austin Hatch suffered brain bruising and swelling and deep facial cuts in Friday's crash that killed his father, Stephen Hatch, and stepmother, Kim, but has shown some hopeful signs at a northern Michigan hospital, said Dr. G. David Bojrab.

. . .

Bojrab said Austin's brain swelling was going down and he had been moving all four limbs when doctors reduce [reduced?] the coma-inducing drugs they placed him on after Friday's crash. But Bojrab said it's unclear how soon doctors plan to take Austin off those drugs.

"They're waiting for the brain swelling to go down," he said. "He has bruising to the brain but there's no structural damage as far as they can tell right now, so they're hoping that that's a good sign and he'll have a better recovery or a full recovery."

Feel really, really bad for this kid. There's not much else to say. 

Austin you're in my thoughts and prayers.

Jeff Arnold story from ThePostGame.com—Friends Rush To Support Michigan Basketball Recruit Involved In Second Plane Crash—offers a personal perspective from one of Austin's teammates, Trent VanHorn.

You're in the thoughts and prayers of the entire University of Michigan community.  We all hope for the best on your road to recovery.