Teen Fights to Walk Again After Football Injury — and Gets Support from Best Friend: 'The One I Can Turn To'
Betsy San Miguel
Two years have passed since Jordan Sloan lay in an Atlanta hospital emergency room fighting for his life after he took a hit to the head during his high school homecoming football game.
"The surgeon was crying as he told me, 'We have to operate right now, or he's going to die in the next few hours,' " Jordan's mom, Jasmine Jamieson, recalls in this week's issue of PEOPLE.
When Jordan's longtime friend Marcos San Miguel — who was en route to his varsity basketball game — learned about his friend's condition, the top-ranked hoopster at Campbell High School in Smyrna, Ga., skipped his game and went straight to the hospital to be by his buddy's side.
"It was really tough," 17-year-old Marcos says, "knowing that your best friend is in a situation like that and there's nothing you can do."
It wasn't long before Marcos realized there was plenty he could do to help.
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The blow to the now-17-year-old Jordan's head left him with a rare brain stem injury that kept him in the hospital for nearly six months, unable to blink his eyes or breathe on his own.
"Doctors tell me that he's one of the only people to survive this injury," says Jasmine, a 36-year-old single mom, whose son has regained feeling in his legs but still cannot walk on his own.
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So Marcos — who forged a strong bond with Jordan shortly after the two first met at a basketball practice in sixth grade — decided to get involved.
Jordan now relies on a tracheostomy tube to breathe and can only communicate by typing. He also spends six days a week working with specialists to regain the use of his legs.
Makenzy Sloan
Through it all, Marcos has remained laser-focused on raising funds on a Rally Up page to help pay for Jordan's therapy, medical equipment, and bills.
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"I'm just looking out for my friend because that's how I was brought up," says Marcos, who has raised over $30,000 in donations that have been used to purchase a manual wheelchair, a physical therapy machine that allows Jordan to stand and experimental stem cell therapy.
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For Jordan, having Marcos in his corner means everything.
"Anything Marcos puts his mind to," he tells PEOPLE via email. "He gets it done. Not everyone can say they have a friend like that… No matter what, he's always been the one I can turn to."
To learn more about Jordan's quest to help his best friend, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.
