GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Parker Byrd underwent a successful 16th surgery Friday, as doctors continued to clean and close wounds on what is left of his right knee.
“Surgery #16 went well,” Parker’s mother, Mitzi Byrd, said in a Facebook update Friday. “A small amount of closures to the stump and both wound vac changes. The bone and tissue looked great! He has surgery again on Monday and then again on Thursday and possibly getting a skin graft for his upper right leg during the Thursday surgery. Small steps in the right direction.”
Byrd has been discharged from inpatient care at ECU Health Medical Center, but he’s still undergoing a series of outpatient surgeries to go along with his physical and hyperbaric therapy treatments. Byrd suffered serious leg damage in a Bath Creek boating accident in July. He’s already undergone a below-the-knee amputation on his right side. Doctors eventually had to remove his right fibula but kept the tibia in place on that side, a positive sign after they previously cautioned that an above-the-knee amputation might be necessary.
In between surgeries, Byrd has been busy with therapy and school. At the time of the accident, Byrd was preparing to enter his freshman year with the East Carolina University baseball program.
Byrd is a Laurinburg native who attended Scotland County High School.
