After months of recovery, senior Mason Flippin came back to school March 21 in hopes to regain some of his memories.

  “I’m really happy that he’s here. It’s wonderful,” senior Kody Barnett said.

  Flippin has returned to school after a two-car automobile accident in September that left him with a traumatic brain injury. He was under heavy sedation for 20 days then, even after coming out of sedation, he wasn’t aware of anything for about two months after that .    

 “We think it is great Mason is in school. It is good for him to be around kids he has been in school with.We hope it will help his memory,” Mason’s mother Amy Flippin said.

   Although scars may heal some of the effects of the accident will stay with Flippin forever.   Flippin survived the collision with a traumatic brain injury, memory issues, vision problems, hearing loss, and is having to relearn everything he is able to do.

  “I love seeing him on a daily basis at school again, but it’s difficult because I never know how  people are gonna treat him now that he’s a little different,” Mason’s cousin and freshman  Amber Flippin said.

  “Mason is always happy, but it is hard to see him struggle with re-learning everything and not being able to help him more than we already do,”  Amy Flippin said.  

  On Thursday, Sept. 17 Flippin and senior Jordon Powers were coming off of BB going on to 65 Hwy and were T-boned by a pickup truck. Both students were ejected from the vehicle. Jordon Powers died and Flippin suffered severe injuries.

  “I was so shocked that it had happened,” Kody Barnett said.

  “It literally hit me like a train. It came with a rush of mixed emotions. I broke down. I just lost it. Life got pretty rough for a couple of months. We kept running back and forth to the hospital and we didn’t know how it would turn out. He was in critical condition for months and in an induced coma,” Amber Flippin said.    

  “Mason is a little bit different now, but our family could never see him any differently. I’m not sure if he will ever fully recover: he’ll never be exactly the same, but we’ll always love him the same,” Amber Flippin said.

 “It changed his life,” Barnett said.

  Mason reports being really happy to be back at school with his friends. Through the whole accident, he says he relied on his mom and dad’s support and thinking of Jordon to help him recover.

  “He’s a great friend,” Barnett said.

  “Mason is very strong and he will always have the love and support of his family,” Amber Flippin said.

  “His strength is amazing and we thank God for that,” Amy Flippin said.