Hudson Domb, a junior at Jupiter High, was in a major boating accident on Jan. 24, 2021 in Jupiter Fla. He suffered extreme injuries to his right leg and has been in recovery for the past year. 

Domb was thrown off the front off the boat while his friends were skurfing and he was sucked into the propeller.

“From there I swam back to the boat, I told them where to bring me, I told them to call 911,” Domb said. 

They pulled up to their family friend’s dock and called for help and Domb quickly reacted and tied his leg to reduce the bleeding. 

“I asked for a ski rope and I tied it around the top of my leg and I told the dad, whose house we pulled up to, to tie it as tight as he could,” Domb said. 

The doctors told Domb tying the leg saved his life. 

“Your mind just goes into this mode, like survival mode, fight or flight and I just thought I have to save my leg, I have to save my life and I’ve got to get through this,” Domb said. 

Domb was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance while the family followed behind. 

“I was awake until I got to the hospital and I went into emergency surgery and was bleeding really badly and the main goal was to stop the bleeding,” Domb said. 

While Domb was in emergency surgery, April Domb, his mother was given the decision by the doctors of whether or not they should amputate the leg due to the severity of the damage. Domb’s mother didn’t sign off and made the decision to repair the leg.

Repairing the leg meant an immense amount of surgeries and physical therapy for the healing process. To this point, Domb has had 26 surgeries in the past year with more to come. 

“There’s been a lot of hard ones. I had a 17-hour surgery where they took a big piece of skin from my left leg and just transferred it to my right leg” Domb said. “That was a lot of pain.”

Domb had to have this skin flap done along with a number of difficult surgeries and at one point his legs were stuck together to ensure the leg would live and continue circulating blood. 

“The hardest part was probably having my legs together for a month because they were connected and I was worried about my good leg,” Domb said. 

The accident was still very difficult on Domb especially in the beginning from the pain. 

“At first I didn’t go on my phone for about a month from the amount of pain I was in, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat,” Domb said. 

Currently the doctors are focused on growing back the bone in Domb’s foot and with the amount of time he has spent in the hospital, he has grown to have a huge appreciation for his doctors.

“One of my doctors, the 17 hour surgery, was on his birthday and he didn’t even see daylight, so they really do a lot and deserve to be appreciated,” Domb said. 

Domb is a part of the medical academy at Jupiter High and despite his accident, was able to maintain his grades this past year. 

“Honestly he made it easy because he, even in the hospital, was sitting there emailing me and reaching out,” Ellis said. 

Domb had Ellis freshman year and in last year all of his teachers were very involved in ensuring the continuation of his learning and he graduated freshman year the same time as everyone else. 

“My teachers helped send me the work even though the condition I was in and I did it all in the hospital,” Domb said. 

The community was very supportive in sending prayers and love along with even starting a Gofundme to go towards their hospital bills. 

“Thank you for everything. I really appreciate the community and everything they’ve done for me, Jupiter High School has been great,” Domb said. “That’s probably the reason I’m so good because the community is so supportive.” 

Students participated in making posters and cards for Domb throughout the school year to support Domb.

“I’m so proud of him and most importantly all of our friends with how much support we all gave him,” Kylie Radi, sophomore, said. “He has come a long way in the past year and I’m so happy for him and his family with where he is at now.”

Domb and his family decided he would be ready to return to campus at the start of the school year, although it would be challenging. 

“I was determined, that’s my personality, when I have something in my mind I just go for it,” Domb said. 

What drove him to school the most was the social aspect, luckily, he is now at the point where it is almost like he just has a broken leg with a boot. 

“I love being around people which is why I came back and it helped me to get better,” Domb said. 

Domb is back doing what he loves and is out on the water frequently.

“He went on the boat right away, I was shocked, he’s not scared of anything,” Taylor Domb, Hudson’s sister, a sophomore, said. 

Domb preaches safety on boats and how important it is to be careful. 

“Be careful when you’re driving boats and just make sure before you make a turn, or speed up you make everyone know what you’re about to do,” Domb said. “I’ve always been really careful, you never know how quick things can happen, so you always have to be really safe when you’re out there, that goes for everyone.”

Domb has aspirations to help others. 

“I definitely want to do something about this, maybe be an inspirational speaker, because I want to help a lot of people, that’s my goal,” Domb said. 

Despite the negatives, the accident has brought Domb’s family closer together. 

“My parents were always at the hospital,” Taylor Domb said. 

Taylor and Hudson’s relationship has grown as well.

“It brought us a lot closer together, we’ve always been really close, but everyday they were in the hospital with me, it’s been really hard on us,” Domb said. 

Moving on, Hudson is looking to change his outlook on the future. 

“It changed the way I look at life, it taught me you never know when it will be your last day and you just have to treat everyday like your last,” Domb said. 

Jupiter High and the community wish Hudson Domb a quick recovery and can look forward to the guarantee he will be able to walk again.