The recruit of the USC Alijah Arenas is out of a coma induced one day after being involved in an accident in the Los Angeles region, according to a family declaration given in ESPN on Friday.
Arenas was involved in a single vehicle accident in the Reseda area of the San Fernando Valley shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles police department. The Los Angeles fire service said the vehicle was a Tesla Cybertruck that crashed into a tree / fire mouth with an involved fire and that the driver was transported to the hospital in serious condition.
Arenas, 18, remains intubated, according to his family, but “showed significant signs of progress in the past 24 hours”. The family said he remembered the smoke of the accident and wrote to ask, “Anyone have injured himself?”
The Los Angeles police department said Thursday that Arenas was in a stable state.
The video obtained by TMZ shows the front of the Arenas vehicle on fire after the accident, with two people trying to help remove it from the truck while the water spray from the damaged fire mouth.
The family’s declaration includes a quote from a spectator who helped withdraw the arenas from the fire truck.
“I remember heard that I hit the car window, but I couldn’t see anything because the smoke was so thick. It was then that I realized that someone was inside,” said the person. “I tried to break the window, but it would not give. Then, I saw that one of the windows was cracked just enough and we used everything we had to fold and remove it. The car was on fire. We just knew that we had to get it out.”
No cause for the accident was published on Friday.
Arenas is a son of the former NBA star, Gilbert Arenas. It is recruit n ° 13 in the promotion of 2025 after reclassifying in December and joined the horses of Troy in January. The five -star prospect frequent the High School of Chatsworth in Los Angeles, helping to lead the team this year to the final of the Division II Championships. With this match, Arenas has become the first boys’ basketball player in the Los Angeles region to reach 3,000 career points.
It was also one of the 48 players selected to play in the game of McDonald’s boys All American in April, which highlights the best boys’ basketball players in the country.
The family expressed their gratitude to those who helped arenas and said new updates would be shared “while Alijah continues to heal”.
“This act of courage, with Alijah’s incredible desire to survive, was simply miraculous,” said the family. “The family continues to request prayers and public support while their baby miracle turns to a complete recovery. They remain deeply grateful for the exceptional care provided by their medical team and love and overwhelming encouragement of the community.”
The USC male basketball coach Eric Musselman, addressed the Arenas accident in a declaration on X Thursday, writing: “Our thoughts and our prayers are with Alijah and his family after the accident this morning. Please keep it, his teammates and friends, and the whole family of the Arenas in your prayers.”
The information from Shams Charania and Paolo Uggetti of ESPN and the Associated Press was used in this report.
