A year after a skid-steer bucket crushed his leg, Banks Holbert is back in a basketball uniform, and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has named him a Cape Day Champion.
The 9-year-old was injured on Oct. 27, 2025, when the bucket broke his femur and left a severe open wound, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. His mother said the brake was not set yet when he accidentally hit a lever.
Six Surgeries, Then Halloween
Banks was treated at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He underwent six surgeries, including a skin graft, and went through physical therapy.
Doctors released him on Halloween 2025. He still made a handful of houses that night, from a wheelchair. This Halloween, FOX 5 reported, he dressed as Michael Jackson.
Back For The Playoffs
The recovery put him back in uniform for his team's first playoff game. FOX 5 did not give a date for that return, only that he played.
A Cape For The Year
The hospital selected Banks as one of its Cape Day Champions. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta holds Cape Day each year to honor young patients facing health challenges, FOX 5 has reported.
His mother's account is not a maintenance accident, and no regulatory finding about the Oct. 27 injury is part of the reporting. A separate case shows how lethal these machines can be under different circumstances. On Oct. 14, 2022, a 51-year-old owner of a tree and landscape company was fatally crushed while servicing a skid-steer loader in a garage, Tree Care Industry Magazine reported. The loader, supported by wooden boards and a jack, tipped and fell on him. Fire and medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. The magazine's safety alert tells workers to properly support skid steers when they are lifted for service.
For Banks, the public marker is the cape: six surgeries, a wheelchair on one Halloween, and a playoff uniform after that.
