USC student who was hit by car reunites with hospital staff that saved his life

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Doctors and nurses at Prisma Health Richland Hospital were reunited with one of their former ICU patients and his family on Wednesday.

While crossing the corner of Bluff Road and South Stadium Road in February 2022, University of South Carolina student William Sibley was hit by a car and left critically injured.

“I don’t think I’ll ever really fully understand how close I was to death,” says Sibley.

According to the staff at Prisma Health Richland Hospital, William spent three weeks in their Level One Trauma Center before being transported to a rehabilitation hospital in Washington D.C.

Dr. Chris Watson, the ICU’s Medical Director, says William had more than 20 different injuries including a rare occurrence that left air trapped around William’s heart-compressing it and keeping it from beating properly.

Dr. Watson says he started what’s known as a pericardial drain — a procedure that is usually meant to drain blood. This time, Dr. Watson says, he used the procedure to remove air.

“We decided to take a chance and put a drain in there, and so you do it without seeing the heart. You do it bedside with a needle, and you’re advancing a needle towards the heart, and if you miss you’re going to go into the heart and that can be really dangerous too,” says Dr. Watson.

According to Dr. Watson, the procedure worked and William has since made a full recovery, with only a few scars on his leg remaining from the accident.

Sibley’s Mom, Amy Sibley, remains thankful for the staff at Prisma Health Richland Hospital, saying, “Having a unit like this…. a trauma ward like this… Level 1… you know. It saved his life.”

William’s Dad Dean Sibley believes Dr. Watson’s out of the box thinking is why his son is still alive today, saying, “That’s a walk-off home run in my book. You win the game on one hit.”

William returned to USC this past January where he continues to study Sports Management.