Sixth-grader recoving from his injuries

MEEKER I Two days after undergoing surgery Oct. 27, Dade Heck came home.
A week earlier, Dade, a sixth-grader, was injured in an accident Oct. 22 during recess at Barone Middle School.
“He was playing on a piece of football equipment, it’s like a squat machine, the bell rang and other kids jumped off and (the machine) tipped over on him,” said Roy Gilbert, whose girlfriend, Teresa Heck, is Dade’s mother. “It was just a freak accident. He was at the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Dade underwent surgery at Children’s Hospital in Denver.
“It took about seven hours to get him all fixed up,” Gilbert said.
Dade suffered head and face injuries, called LeFort fractures.
“They took him to Pioneers (Medical Center in Meeker). Then they put him on a fixed-wing airplane and took him to Denver. He was pretty critical at the time,” Gilbert said. “They had to wait (to do surgery) because his face swelled up unbelievably. It was huge.”
Dade, who has Type I diabetes, is expected to return to school next week, Gilbert said.
“He has had it since he was 2, but other than that he’s one healthy boy,” Gilbert said. “He’s a lot better now. He has all of his eyesight back and no headaches.
“There’s no permanent damage. They said he would heal up and be just fine,” Gilbert said. “He’s in good spirits. We can laugh and joke about it now. He said he needs a rewind button. He would rewind (the accident).”