10-year-old Bend boy back home after head-on crash

A colorful “Welcome Home” sign with a bouquet of balloons sits on the dinner table of Asheley Martino’s Bend home.

Martino said family and friends have stopped by to check on her son, Avryn Hayes, since they got home on Friday.

Avryn suffered a broken leg, broken back and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Martino and her son have been away from their home for a month after Avryn was involved in a head-on crash on the Bend Parkway.

On April 19, police said a 2007 Chevy Silverado pickup had been heading north with Charles Trego, 33, from Bend at the wheel, when it crossed the center median and collided with a southbound Subaru Impreza driven by a 27-year-old Bend man, Burleigh said.

Avryn, who was riding in the Impreza, was removed by the driver and police immediately began lifesaving efforts until Bend fire crews arrived moments later. He was taken to St. Charles Bend with life-threatening injuries and later flown to a Portland-area trauma center, Burleigh said.

The driver of the pickup was trapped in the truck until Bend Fire crews were able to remove him and take him to St. Charles Bend with non-life-threatening injuries, the lieutenant said. The Subaru driver did not suffer noticeable injuries, he added.

Martino remembers getting the phone call that morning.

“They said he had gotten to a car accident on the way to school and he was unresponsive — and my heart just dropped, and I couldn’t breathe,” she said Tuesday.

Avryn was unconscious and was placed on life support, but regained consciousness later in the Portland hospital.

The family did not leave his side while he was recovering ,and Avryn kept on fighting and showing signs of improvement.

“The thumbs up was the first turning point that we went, ‘Okay, he’s at least following a direction,'” she said.

Still, Avryn is undergoing speech and occupational therapy and has limited mobility.

Martino said there’s a possibility that doctors could recommend Avryn not participate in any type of extreme or contact sports.

The family’s passion for fishing was evident around their home. During our interview, Avryn was out fishing with his father.

Avryn, like any typical 10-year-old boy, wants to do more.

“He’s already asked if he can go skateboarding. Skateboarding is definitely on hold for quite some time,” Martino said.

The Central Oregon community has pitched in to raise more than $50,000 to help the family with medical expenses.

“The community support has been amazing,” Martino said. “Bend has been my home pretty much my whole life, so I’ve always known it was an amazing community. But with so much growth, you just don’t know how truly amazing it is until something like this happens.”

“Everybody is wanting to see him,” she added. “Everybody has been there for him while he’s been gone, and so being back in town means they can be face to face with him again.”

The family hopes Avryn can return to Silver Rail Elementary school next year.

The crash investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel told NewsChannel 21 in an email Tuesday his office is waiting for toxicology results.

Investigators are “trying to determine whether the cause of the crash was the driver experiencing a medical crisis, the driver being under the influence of drugs, or something else,” Hummel said.

Hummel said the test results are crucial and investigators also are reviewing medical records.

If you would like to help the family with medical expense, they have an account at Mid-Oregon Credit Union called “Swing for Avryn.”