Cole Ditmore, 11, was an active student who participated in sports and was moderately popular in his school. But around 6 months ago, Ditmore suffered an unthinkable accident that caused him to have a stroke at such a young age.
According to People, Ditmore was at the school playground on one random afternoon with a marker in his mouth. Then without any warning, a soccer ball hit the boy directly in the center of his face. The marker was shoved to the back of his throat by the impact of the soccer ball. Immediately, Ditmore was rushed to the local Our Lady of the Lake St. Elizabeth Hospital.
Parents’ worst nightmare will always be a child of theirs who gets harmed during their time away from them. There have been slightly similar situations of parents this year having unfortunate incidents befalling their children when they were in the care of someone else. One was an Australian parent who had her nonverbal autistic 5-year-old child under the guidance of a daycare.
The Australian parent came one day for pick-up only to find her child missing. And despite her eventually finding her child and unfortunately losing him to drowning, to this day she still thinks about that fateful day that her son went missing. The case was similar for a Virginia mom whose 10-year-old child always went to sleep with her phone in her hand; little did she know that her schoolmates were bullying her on social media, and that eventually drove her into taking her own life.
There are parents who have caused their children actual harm, and they certainly deserve all the harsh questions that society and the law ask them. But Ditmore’s mother Angelina Frazier actually had to answer the toughest question of all. She told the press, “The first thing he said to me, he was like, ‘Mom, am I going to die?’”
Doctors were quick in their procedure, and they were able to find that the marker made a small puncture at the back of Ditmore’s throat. Frazier initially thought that her son had suffered a concussion. But the doctors quickly figured out that Ditmore’s slurred speech, half of his facial features drooping, and his left arm being hard to use were telltale signs that he was actually going through a stroke.
The marker reportedly had compressed his carotid artery, which created a clot that led to the stroke. The doctors were able to stabilize the boy, and now he’s at least back to speaking. According to Frazier, they can thank that to the fact that the stroke occurred when Ditmore was in front of the ENT. Recalling the harrowing experience, Ditmore said, “The first thing I remember was waking up around 11 or 12 and seeing my dad and my mom just all there, and I heard them talking, but I couldn’t respond and I couldn’t talk.”
Currently, Ditmore is just focused on a full recovery, and all he hopes is that he can get back to his normal self.
Published: Nov 17, 2025 03:12 pm