Baton Rouge tennis pro Johnny Wahlborg was in a significant
automobile accident Friday evening, September 13th. He lost control of
his truck on the way to see his students at a junior tournament in
Mississippi. Johnny sustained multiple broken ribs, a broken arm, five
broken vertebrae in his neck, bruised
lungs, and trauma to the head. Luckily, there is no apparent nerve or
brain damage, and he has some movement in his legs.
He was in the ICU at Ocean Springs Hospital in stable condition and has since been moved to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital. He was kept sedated for two days and on a respirator. Johnny is able to talk and communicate with his family. As you might expect, Johnny faces a long road to recovery. Please keep the Wahlborg family in your thoughts and prayers.
Johnny has been developing junior tennis players in Baton Rouge for the past 25 years. In an excerpt from Johnny’s web site Johnny’s motto is “love the battle” - “The battle to develop a positive attitude, even when things get tough, in tennis, in sports, and in life. We strive to help our students develop confidence, do their best, accept life’s challenges, and excel in everything they do – on and off the court.”
This is more than a guy who got into a car accident. This is about a family that is not only dedicated to each other, but to their community as well.
Total Tennis is not just coaching children and adults in tennis, they are also heavily involved with the Special Olympics and wheelchair tennis.
His wife Hydie is the executive director of Girls On The Run which inspires young girls to be happy, healthy, and confident.
So in closing, please consider a donation to help this family. I know life is expensive and many of you have a charity/church you may support but this family could not be anymore deserving. They pay it forward every day and are dedicated to others which is how we all should live.
In an effort to help Johnny’s family, a donation account at Iberia Bank has been established. Donations may be made in one of two ways: 1) You can visit any Iberia Bank location and make a donation by check or cash; 2) You may send a check made out to Johnny Wahlborg c/o Craig Netterville, Senior Vice President, Iberia Bank, 3700 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. If you have any questions about donations, you can e-mail Craig at cnetterville@iberiabank.com or you can e-mail me at edgaskell@bocagerc.org