She spends her days like most high school seniors waiting for the bell to ring, but Samantha Stone knows time is precious and each passing minute, she fears, could be his last.
In the evening, she sits by the bedside of her boyfriend, Justin Jones, 18, who suffered a serious brain injury when his 2001 Dodge pickup plunged into a 100-foot ravine Saturday on a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. right-of-way north of Route 50 in Davidsonville.
Jones was rescued after his friend, Anthony Mendez, 17, climbed out of the ravine despite serious injuries and walked nearly a mile to seek help.
Jones was taken the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he remained unconscious Tuesday while his family and friends nervously waited for any indication of permanent brain damage.
“I am praying for that boy day and night,” said Stone, 17, a student at South River High School in Edgewater.
“I’ve asked God to please let him make it through this and have a fast recovery and to help us be strong for him.”
Stone met Jones in the sixth grade at Central Middle School where the two quickly became best friends.
Then on New Year’s Eve, the longtime friends became a couple.
“We just decided to go for it,” Stone said.
Three days later, Stone told her boyfriend to have a good time with his friend at a bull-riding event in Baltimore, not knowing those would be her last words to him before the incident.
“The possibility of brain damage has crossed my mind,” Stone said. “It does scare me, but I have to stay positive. I’ve been there every day holding his hand and telling him that we’re all praying for him.”
Jones underwent brain surgery Sunday, and surgeons were preparing Tuesday for a tracheotomy to improve his breathing and reduce his risk of getting pneumonia.
“Justin has had scratches and spills on his four-wheelers and motorcycles, so we’re used to bumps and bruises, but this has been an eye-opening experience. It’s just starting to feel real,” said his mother, Susan Jones. “It’s almost like walking around in a cloud.”
Doctors encouraged Jones’ parents to go home in the evenings and “do something normal” before returning to the hospital, his mother said, but even daily tasks have been difficult.
“The little things get us upset,” she said. “I started crying when I was folding his laundry.”
Jones’ father, Tracy Jones, said he broke into tears when he picked up his son’s wrecked truck from storage.
“It’s hard to put into words what we’re feeling right now,” Susan said. “We’re trying to feel hopeful, but right now, it’s all up to Justin.”
