What was supposed to be a fun day at his friend’s house turned into a tragedy for 7-year-old Gavin Ludwick and his family.
The sweet boy was getting back home when he got viciously attacked by one of his neighbors, a man named Daniel Poulsen, 32, from Desert Hot Springs, California. Out of the blue, Poulsen started throwing rocks at Gavin thus hurt his head after which the boy fell on the ground and was left lying there until another neighbor noticed him. Alturo Delgardo rushed Gavin to the hospital where doctors discovered a hole in his head.
They had no idea what the outcome of the attack would be but knew things didn’t look good for the sweet and innocent boy who was attacked for no reason.
When the boy’s mother, Wendy, learned that her son was at the hospital and was told of the severity of the injuries, her first thought was that he was hit by a car. However, after she discovered what truly happened, she couldn’t believe her ears. Why would someone the family barely knew would do such a horrific thing?
“When I first saw him I thought he had been hit by a car,” Wendy told Sun Online. “I was in shock, I thought ‘why have they not stopped.’ I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the footage. When I found out about it I was shocked and mad.”
NBC Palm Spring reported that the criminal complaint filed by the prosecutors said “the boy was left comatose due to brain injury or to suffer paralysis of a permanent nature.”
“I couldn’t believe someone would do this to such a sweet little boy, he [Poulsen] doesn’t even know Gavin, they have never had any interaction,” Wendy said. “He is lucky to be alive. He could have easily killed him.”
Gavin was first taken to Desert Regional Medical Centre but was later transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Centre. The boy had undergone a surgery, but his road to recovery would be a long one. Doctors believe it would take at least three months until the swelling of his skull decreases before they perform additional surgeries.
“He can’t talk yet but he can make babbling sounds. He can sit up now but is still very weak,” Wendy said. “It’s very upsetting, sometimes I just fall apart when they are doing procedures on him and I have to walk away. I sat with him and told him, ‘momma is not going to leave you, momma is here.’ I don’t think he will remember anything that happened and I hope he doesn’t.”
After this sad story spread, many people prayed for sweet Gavin. A GoFundMe Page has been set up. It says, “He’s amazing, loving and kind momma, Wendy Ludwick, just lost her husband to cancer a few months ago. She is now raising her two children alone, on a school teacher’s salary. Y’all, she is the kindest and best of us. Definitely one of our better angels and Gavin did NOT deserve this,” the page said. “…Thankfully, the attack was caught on a neighbor’s security camera. However, little Gavin is fighting for his life now and his future is unknown.”
The wrongdoer has since been arrested. This, however, isn’t the first time that he had done something like this. In fact, Poulsen had been arrested 15 times before and those charges include burglary, committing lewd acts in public, battery, resisting arrest and annoying and/or molesting a child younger than 18, but he was always declared mentally unfit to go through trial. Doctors are currently evaluating his mental state.
We pray Gavin would be able to get to his old life back after he goes through the much needed surgeries.