WOOSTER, Ohio (WOIO) – Eleven-year-old Ezra Swartzentruber was just a normal kid, but on the evening of Feb. 3, everything changed.

Ezra was hit by a car just outside of the college of Wooster. The 11-year-old has spent over two weeks in the hospital.

He is completely deaf in one ear and has suffered several bone fractures.

“It’s hard as a father. You never want to see anything happen to your kids. it’s really one of the toughest things that I’ve ever experienced,” his father, Karl Swartzentruber, said.

It was an unforgettable day for the family, with Ezra’s little brother and sister witnessing the accident.

“To see someone they look up to and their best friend have something like that happen is extremely upsetting for him,” Ezra’s father said.

Karl said he remembers the day vividly. They were leaving a basketball game.

“We waited until traffic had stopped. We went to go cross the crosswalk. Ezra was a few steps ahead of me,” Karl said. ”I reached out to grab him. I reached out to stop him. He was just out of my reach.”

Ezra was released from the hospital on Tuesday, and will need to use a wheelchair until his legs heal.

Local volunteers built an outdoor ramp for the family’s home.

“It feel like the entire city of Wooster just really rallied around my son, that’s a heartwarming thing.. from people reaching out, text messages,” Karl said. “When you meet a kid like him, you remember him,”

While the family has a wave of support flooding in, Ezra still struggles daily with the thought of what his life use to be.

“It’s hard for him right now, he knows he can’t do the things he use to do, he plays guitar, he plays trombone,” Karl said. “We have a long road ahead of us. We know even after he is out of a wheelchair, eventually physically therapy is going to be part of lives for a long time”

Though Ezra has a tough road ahead, the support of his family and the community will not falter.

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